You can find a PDF of this press release here.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brittany-Rae Gregory
brittany-rae@nextcenturycities.org
October 27, 2023

Washington, D.C. (October 27, 2023) – Today Next Century Cities released Wildfires, Natural Disasters, and Network Resilience. The report authored by Ryan Johnston goes into detail about why network resilience planning must be a coordinated effort between providers, network operators, and all levels of government in order to ensure that all stakeholders are properly informed when natural disasters occur. The report focuses on specific measures that should be considered when planning for future natural disasters. 

Ryan Johnston, Next Century Cities’ Senior Policy Counsel for Federal Programs, offered the following remarks: 

“Every day local, state and federal lawmakers are having important discussions about how to best utilize the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Many of these conversations center around how to build infrastructure as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

“However, resilience is often not included in these planning discussions. Ensuring that the historic investment we are about to make is able to withstand increasingly severe natural disasters is as equally important as deploying infrastructure. 

“Without instituting clear resilience policies, networks will continually be vulnerable to both natural and manmade disasters. What’s more, communities will continue to be left in the dark when they need connectivity the most.”  

Read the full report here. To request a print version of the report, please email info@nextcenturycities.org. 

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