Priority Telecommunications Services (PTS) Office of Emergency Communications February 2018

Office of Emergency Communications: Mission OEC provides and manages communications capabilities used by emergency responders and government officials to keep America safe, secure, and resilient. 2

Problem: Key Personnel May Not Be Able to Communicate at a Critical Moment Emergency responders and government officials rely on a mix of devices to communicate during an emergency: Land mobile radio Cellular Landline Private network Satellite Commercial networks can become congested due to high call volumes (overload) or limited due to outages 3

Overload and Outage Scenarios Mass Calling Events Heavier Than Normal Peak Period Calling   4

Overload and Outage Scenarios Scheduled or Spontaneous Events Compromise of Network Infrastructure 5

PTS Services: GETS and WPS Government Emergency Telecommunications Service WPS Wireless Priority Service 6

Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) 7

GETS: Enhances Voice Call Completion When Commercial Networks are Overloaded/Impaired GETS provides end-to-end priority over landline commercial networks There are some GETS priority features in WPS-capable cellular networks Greater than 90% call completion rates Over 345,000 GETS cards issued 8

GETS Provides Priority Across Networks to the Destination Landline Phone

GETS Provides Priority Across Networks to the Destination Cellular Phone

How GETS Works 11

GETS Information on Back of Card 12

Wireless Priority Service (WPS) 13

WPS: Enhances Call Completion When Cellular Networks are Overloaded/Impaired WPS is an add-on feature to existing cellular service WPS provides priority on the radio connection between the user’s cellular device and the cell tower, and provides priority processing in the core wireless networks Available on all nationwide and some regional cellular carriers Provides greater than 85% call completion rates There are over 153,000 WPS users 14

How WPS Works 15

Who Should Have GETS and WPS? Individuals Organizations Locations/Functions Mayors, council members, supervisors Tribal Leadership CFO Media relations OEM mgmt. and staff Police/Fire Chiefs and staff Police/Fire field command Dept heads and staff SMEs and trained specialists Individuals with an NS/EP role Cities/counties/ states/districts Tribes/territories Office of Emergency Management Police/sheriff/fire water and power and telecom Public works Irrigation districts and flood control Public health Financial institutions Hospitals and medical services Transit agencies Ports and airports Utilities, transportation, and other industries Search and rescue School and college districts Red Cross and volunteer agencies Critical infrastructure suppliers Other agencies included in county emergency management plans EOC work stations Back-up EOC City, county, and tribal operations centers PSAPs (911 centers) Computer/IT center Police/fire dispatch City, county, and tribal yards Remote offices and stations Power and pump stations Shelters Command vehicles Must meet criteria in at least one NS/EP Role, per OEC: serves our national security leadership supports the national security posture and US population attack warning systems supports public health, safety, and maintenance of law and order activities maintains the public welfare and the national economic system is critical to the protection of life and property or to NS/EP activities during an emergency 16

GETS and WPS Performance 17

Hurricane Irma – Event Analysis • Power outages/disrupted telecomms - Over 2.6 million homes in Fl without power on evening of Sep 10, eventually 6M w/o power - Battery backup power for cell phone towers ran out and backup generators ran out of fuel - At one point 89 of 108 (82%) cell towers were non-functioning in the Florida Keys - More than 7 million lost cable/wireline telecom • Emergency Performance Reporting - 9/5 to 9/15 (GETS & WPS) 3719 GETS Calls Completed 98% 3859 WPS Calls Completed 93% • Expedited Activations: WPS 2445 GETS 146 Source: C. Somodevilla/Getty Images Hurricane Irma does damage in Florida 18

Hurricane Harvey, August 2017 “We were outside of Corpus Christi making our way to Rockford trying to contact the Texas Department of Transportation to find fuel. We tried with regular calls and it didn't work, then we put in the [WPS] access code, and it worked. Wherever there was cell coverage, we were able to get through with WPS." Michael Cayse Ohio Task Force One FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Branch Department of Homeland Security 19

Implementing GETS and WPS in Your Organization 20

Requesting GETS and WPS STEP 1: Designate a GETS/WPS Point of Contact (POC) for your organization STEP 2: POC establishes GETS and WPS account online using www.dhs.gov/gets or www.dhs.gov/wps or by contacting the Priority Telecommunications Service Center at 1-866-627-2255 STEP 3: After account is established, POC requests GETS and WPS for an initial group of users/key functions/locations through the online system POC distributes GETS Cards and confirms WPS activations POC keeps account updated (adding and deleting users, updating administrative information) BEST PRACTICE: designate alternate POCs! 21

GETS and WPS Best Practices Distribute GETS Cards ALWAYS carry your GETS Card with you Ensure WPS has been activated on your cell phone Make practice/test calls periodically and include GETS/WPS in training exercises Preprogram *272 for key numbers in your contact list Preprogram GETS number in cell phones Report problems you have when trying to make a WPS call during testing and training exercises 22

Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) 23

Critical Services May Experience Outages Damaged facilities and service problems can disable communications! Emergency Operations Center 911 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) IT Center Critical Facilities Telecommunications Service Providers 24

TSP: Solution for Repair of Damaged Circuits or Expediting Installation of New Circuits Established in November 1988 by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Report and Order FCC 88-341 TSP is a mandatory requirement for all FCC-regulated telecommunications companies Tariffed rates are approved by state utility regulators The FCC mandates that carriers restore TSP-coded circuits before circuits under Service Level Agreements (SLAs) 25

Circumstances to Apply TSP TSP provides priority repair or expedited installation of critical voice and data circuits: Repair and replacement of damaged circuits at EOCs, hospitals, PSAPs, power facilities, government headquarters, financial institutions, etc. Priority installation of new circuits when needed to support operations such as disaster response and recovery, and large scale security events 26

Requesting TSP Request a TSP Account (TSP “POC”) online using www.dhs.gov/tsp or through the Priority Telecommunications Service Center at 1-866-627-2255 Identify specific services for TSP; Submit TSP Service Request(s) on a per service basis Upon approval, the Service Center sends TSP Code for each specific service Order TSP thru your service vendor Update internal records and procedures to reflect implementation of TSP 27

Budgeting for Priority Services GETS There is no charge to subscribe to or use GETS. (The OEC reserves the right to bill for all GETS calls, but to date they have never charged.) WPS Service Providers MAY charge a one time $10.00 activation fee, a maximum of $4.50/month for each subscribed cellular device, and $0.75/minute TSP No charge for TSP Code; each Circuit will have an applicable rate established by your service provider 29

WPS Carrier Subscription and Usage Fees WPS Feature Activation Fee (one time) WPS Service Fee (monthly recurring) WPS Usage Fee AT&T Mobility $1.99 for new service contracts after Jan 2010 $.75 per minute of use Cellcom C Spire GCI Southern Linc $10.00 Sprint T-Mobile Verizon Wireless up to $10.00 * up to $4.50 * $.75 per minute of use* U.S. Cellular * VZW waives fees for public sector (Fed plus SLTT) and bills fees for private sector (industry and consumer) 30

Resources Colleen Wright (PTS Area Representative) Web Sites: (202) 499-9800 or colleen.wright@associates.hq.dhs.gov Web Sites: www.dhs.gov/gets www.dhs.gov/wps www.dhs.gov/tsp DHS Priority Telecommunications Service Center: 1-866-627-2255 Monday–Friday, 8 am–6 pm EST Follow voice prompts for GETS, WPS or TSP 31

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