You can find a pdf of the press release here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lukas Pietrzak
lukas@nextcenturycities.org
NEXT CENTURY CITIES PUBLISHES RESEARCH ON THE IMPORTANCE OF BROADBAND NETWORK
RESILIENCY PLANNING BEFORE NATURAL DISASTERS STRIKE
Washington, D.C. (March 29, 2021) – Today, Next Century Cities’ Ryan Johnston released a paper examining how broadband networked fared during natural disasters across the nation, the impacts they had on the community, and the responses localities took to ensure their citizens could stay connected in the event of a future emergency. He also detailed five recommendations for Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate insights and best practices from local resiliency planning.
The following quote can be attributed to Ryan Johnston, Policy Counsel, Federal Programs:
“As natural disasters continue to increase in frequency and severity, ensuring that everyone in an affected area is able to remain connected must be a priority. Network resilience has become an integral part of planning broadband across the United States.
“During a crisis, mobile and broadband networks act as lifelines between state and local governments and residents. Communities need real-time access to evacuation orders and other critical information as soon as it is available. In extreme circumstances, reliable connectivity can potentially save lives.
“The Federal Communications Commission has the tools and frameworks in place to take national leadership on broadband network resilience planning. As the agency of expertise on broadband policy, it can provide know-how and identify best practices for local officials to proactively engage in network resilience planning.
“To this end, the Commission should no longer pick and choose which network outage events are investigated. It must increase its data collection to clarify why an outage may have occurred, elucidating recommendations to improve resilience protocols. This type of information could prove invaluable to the municipalities that do not have the funding or manpower to test resiliency plans themselves.
“While communities need to assess local challenges in the face of a natural disaster, federal leadership on best practices will help keep communities online when they need it the most.”
Review the paper here.
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Next Century Cities is a non-profit organization of over 200 communities, founded to support communities and their elected leaders. Our membership includes mayors and other officials who are working to ensure that all have access to fast, affordable, and reliable internet access. For more information, visit www.nextcenturycities.org .