Verizon Improving Network Resiliency, Communications in Addressing 911 Service Issues After June 2012 Derecho

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Communications Commission's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today (Jan. 10) issued a staff report on issues associated with 911 services in Virginia after the June 29, 2012, derecho. The following statement should be attributed to Anthony Melone, Verizon executive vice president and chief technology officer:

"Verizon takes seriously its role in the 911 ecosystem. We have acted diligently and decisively to resolve the operational and communications issues that arose after the June 2012 derecho, and our performance during Hurricane Sandy in late October demonstrated the substantial progress we've made.

"We continue to move forward on a number of fronts, from improving network resiliency to enhancing communications processes with public safety officials:

    --  "We've resolved the issues that caused the generator failures in our
        Arlington and Fairfax offices and spurred 911-service issues in the wake
        of the June derecho.
    --  "We've completed backup-power system audits of all critical Verizon 911
        facilities in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and we are
        resolving issues as needed.
    --  "We've improved our procedures to identify power issues and get backup
        generators on line more quickly in crises.
    --  "We're decentralizing and diversifying our network monitoring system so
        that the loss of any single location has less of a critical impact on
        our overall monitoring capability.
    --  "We've improved communications with 911 center directors and other
        government officials during emergencies.  We have adopted the five
        recommendations made by northern Virginia 911 center directors, and
        we're working with the public safety community to implement these
        recommendations.
    --  "We're applying lessons learned from our derecho investigation
        throughout our service area.

"Verizon will review the bureau's report and recommendations, and we will continue to collaborate with the FCC, the public safety community, and other local, state and federal government officials to take every step to ensure that 911 is available when citizens need it."

SOURCE Verizon Communications