Dem. House members request briefing from Comtech CEO regarding 911 service outages

Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee recently sent a public letter to Comtech President and CEO Fred Kornberg, requesting a briefing regarding reports that company outages have prevented people from connecting with 911 operators.

The letter was sent by U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Mike Doyle (D-PA), and Diana DeGette (D-CO).

The request follows a number of reports that the company’s 911 emergency connection system experienced outages in Ohio, Connecticut and South Dakota which, in some cases, led to individual communities in those states suspending or discontinuing service with Comtech. In June 2016, the city of Cincinnati experienced a reported 10 outages, with one lasting as long as 30 minutes.

“…the recent natural disasters ravaging significant parts of our country show just how critical it is for communities to have 911 systems they can rely on no matter what,” the members wrote. “Effective 911 services can be the difference between life and death, and that is why we are so troubled by reports detailing 911 system outages in areas serviced by Comtech throughout the country.”

While most emergency services are funded and operated by local governments, a large majority of the nation’s 911 services are provided by Comtech and one other vendor.

In their letter, the members request that the company provide a briefing to the committee by Oct. 17, including how Comtech complies with federal, state, and local regulations to ensure reliability to the nation’s 911 systems.

Comtech has yet to formally respond to the members’ request.