FCC's Hurricane Headache

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) raised concern at the Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing about the agency’s response to “major consumer problems,” suggesting the commission had been deferring to corporate interests when it comes to fixing things like “robocalls or widespread communications failures after disasters like Hurricanes Maria and Michael.” The criticism came days after the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued a report detailing “the unacceptably slow restoration of wireless service” after 2018’s Hurricane Michael, the most severe storm in the history of the Florida Panhandle. The investigation identified three culprits: weak backhaul connectivity, inadequate roaming arrangements, and poor coordination among wireless providers, power crews and local authorities. But critics say the FCC should shoulder more of the blame. Free Press, which put out its own report about the telecom crisis in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Maria and Irma, blasted the FCC for failing to do its part in holding carriers accountable for insufficient storm preparedness and response. “What happened in Puerto Rico is a man-made disaster, exacerbated by the neglect of carriers and the one agency that’s supposed to hold these businesses accountable to the public interest,” said Carmen Scurato, the group’s senior policy counsel.