The FCC plans to conduct an exercise of its new Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) between June 10-12. The event is voluntary.
The agency says it will help ensure that communications providers – including broadcast, wireless, satellite, broadband, and wireline – can access and file reports in the DIRS system. The Commission also wants to ensure providers train new employees to become familiar with the DIRS reporting process, and update their DIRS contact information.
The exercise will begin with the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau sending a mock activation letter on June 10 to all registered DIRS participants. The letter will clearly state that this is only an exercise and not a real DIRS activation. It will provide a list of pre-selected counties that form the disaster area for this exercise. Providers will be asked to report data on any communications assets (e.g., wireline, wireless, broadband, satellite, and broadcast) they have in the affected area.
The bureau asks providers to send their initial data sets by 10 a.m. EST on June 11, with an updated report filed by June 12, at 10 a.m. EST. The bureau will send a deactivation letter by 3 p.m. EST on June 12, letting all participants know that the exercise is completed.
Providers that would like to participate in this voluntary exercise should email: [email protected] and [email protected] by June 3, with the company’s name, and names of all participants from that provider and contact information-all in an Excel format.
The legacy DIRS system was decommissioned in December in favor of a new platform, accessible at: https://dirs.fcc.gov. The new DIRS system has enhanced security and network features to better ensure the integrity of the system, according to the FCC.
Legacy DIRS users who didn’t have an existing account in the FCC’s Commission Registration System (CORES), will need to create a CORES account prior to accessing DIRS. Legacy DIRS users with existing CORES accounts, won’t need to create a new DIRS account. Find detailed information on creating DIRS accounts, as well as using the system, in the user’s guide.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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