Verizon Agrees to Pay $1 Million Fine for 911 Call Outage
Verizon Communications' wireless business has agreed to pay a $1.05 million fine to settle an investigation about failing to connect 911 calls during an outage in December 2022.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the outage lasted for one hour and forty-four minutes and affected hundreds of 911 calls across six states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This outage was similar to another one Verizon had in October 2022.
Understanding the Issue
The FCC's enforcement bureau chief Loyaan A. Egal emphasized the importance of 911 services, saying, "We are committed to ensuring that communications providers uphold their responsibilities in providing critical 911 services to the American public."
Rick Young, a Verizon spokesperson, added, "The incident in 2022 was highly unusual. We understand the critical importance of maintaining a robust and reliable 911 network, and we’re committed to ensuring that our customers can always rely on our services in times of need."
What Happened?
The December outage was caused by a faulty security policy update that an employee re-applied. This update was known to have issues, as it was the same file that caused the October outage. Despite knowing this, Verizon did not remove the problematic security update file from its system.
Compliance and Future Prevention
In addition to paying the fine, Verizon has also agreed to:
- Perform 911 risk assessments
- Implement enhanced processes for security policy updates
These steps are part of a compliance plan to adhere to the FCC’s rules for 911 services.
Conclusion
This situation is a reminder of how critical reliable communication services are during emergencies. Verizon's commitment to resolving these issues should bring some reassurances to their customers that such incidents will be minimized in the future.
By addressing these problems and making improvements, Verizon aims to ensure that their customers can always depend on their services when it matters most.
Note: A 911 call outage means that people trying to call emergency services (like police, fire, or ambulance) couldn't get through due to technical problems. The FCC is a government agency that oversees communications services, ensuring they meet certain standards.
