§  4.13   Reports by the National Communications System (NCS) and by special
offices and facilities, and related responsibilities of communications
providers.

   Reports by the National Communications System (NCS) and by special
   offices and facilities (other than 911 special offices and facilities)
   of outages potentially affecting them (see paragraphs (a) through (d)
   of §  4.5) shall be made according to the following procedures:

   (a) When there is a mission-affecting outage, the affected facility
   will report the outage to the NCS and call the communications provider
   in order to determine if the outage is expected to last 30 minutes. If
   the outage is not expected to, and does not, last 30 minutes, it will
   not be reported to the Commission. If it is expected to last 30 minutes
   or does last 30 minutes, the NCS, on the advice of the affected special
   facility and in the exercise of its judgment, will either:

   (1) Forward a report of the outage to the Commission, supplying the
   information for initial reports affecting special facilities specified
   in this section of the Commission's Rules;

   (2) Forward a report of the outage to the Commission, designating the
   outage as one affecting “special facilities,” but reporting it at a
   level of detail that precludes identification of the particular
   facility involved; or

   (3) Hold the report at the NCS due to the critical nature of the
   application.

   (b) If there is to be a report to the Commission, an electronic,
   written, or oral report will be given by the NCS within 120 minutes of
   an outage to the Commission's Duty Officer, on duty 24 hours a day in
   the FCC's Communications and Crisis Management Center in Washington,
   DC. Notification may be served at such other facility designated by the
   Commission by public notice or (at the time of the emergency) by public
   announcement only if there is a telephone outage or similar emergency
   in Washington, DC. If the report is oral, it is to be followed by an
   electronic or written report not later than the next business day.
   Those providers whose service failures are in any way responsible for
   the outage must consult and cooperate in good faith with NCS upon its
   request for information.

   (c) Additionally, if there is to be a report to the Commission, the
   communications provider will provide a written report to the NCS,
   supplying the information for final reports for special facilities
   required by this section of the Commission's rules. The communications
   provider's final report to the NCS will be filed within 28 days after
   the outage, allowing the NCS to then file the report with the
   Commission within 30 days after the outage. If the outage is reportable
   as described in paragraph (b) of this section, and the NCS determines
   that the final report can be presented to the Commission without
   jeopardizing matters of national security or emergency preparedness,
   the NCS will forward the report as provided in either paragraphs (a)(1)
   or (a)(2) of this section to the Commission.

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