The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) recently provided comments related to the Federal Communications Commission’s data collection proposal. ATIS’ correspondence – submitted in response to a review by the Commission’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis– highlighted ATIS’ Network Reliability Steering Committee’s (NRSC) established data collection expertise. Beyond citing ATIS’ relevant experience, the correspondence recommended that the Commission consider streamlining its communications outage reporting rules.

In its letter, ATIS acknowledged the Commission’s need to collect information regarding communications outages, and noted the industry’s 17 year history of successful data provision. ATIS recommended that some reporting requirements could potentially be streamlined, such as the communications outage reporting’s so-called “two hour reporting requirement.” The comments also noted that the industry burden associated with outage reporting has far exceeded initial estimates in terms of both time and resources.

ATIS also cited cases where input from industry’s data collection and analysis subject matter experts has substantially benefitted the FCC. ATIS referred to the wireless hearing aid compatibility data and Disaster Information Reporting System data collection processes as models of properly leveraged industry expertise.

A copy of the communication is available here.

The ATIS NRSC
The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) Network Reliability Steering Committee (NRSC) was formed to monitor network reliability utilizing major outage reports. The NRSC strives to improve network reliability by providing timely consensus-based technical and operational expert guidance to all segments of the public communications industry.

About ATIS
ATIS is the leading technical planning and standards development organization committed to the rapid development of global, market-driven standards for the information, entertainment and communications industry. More than 250 companies actively formulate standards in ATIS’ 20 Committees, covering issues including: IPTV, Service Oriented Networks, Home Networking, Energy Efficiency, IP-Based and Wireless Technologies, Quality of Service, Billing and Operational Support. In addition, numerous Incubators, Focus and Exploratory Groups address emerging industry priorities including “Green”, IP Downloadable Security, Next Generation Carrier Interconnect, IPv6 and Convergence.

ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a member and major U.S. contributor to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio and Telecommunications’ Sectors, and a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, please visit www.atis.org.