Verizon Wireless to Pay Over $1 Million to Settle FCC Investigation into 911 Outage in Six States

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau announced a settlement to resolve its investigation into whether Verizon Wireless violated FCC rules by failing to deliver 911 calls during an outage in December 2022, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. As Congress and the Commission have found, robust and reliable 911 service is a critical national priority. Those calling first responders must be able to rely on their calls being completed. To settle this matter, the Enforcement Bureau and Verizon Wireless entered into a Consent Decree that requires Verizon Wireless to implement a compliance plan and pay a $1,050,000 civil penalty. As part of the Consent Decree issued, Verizon Wireless agreed to implement a robust compliance plan designed to ensure future compliance with the FCC’s 911 rules and implement best practices, including performing 911 risk assessments and establishing enhanced processes for implementing security policy updates.