For Communications Service Providers (CSPs), delivering reliable service is job number one. Unfortunately, even the most resilient networks can experience outages. When they do, CSPs are expected to act fast: restoring service, informing customers, and staying in compliance with regulatory reporting requirements. Now, new FCC rules are expanding those expectations, introducing stricter thresholds and a wider set of stakeholders that must be notified. These changes raise the stakes—and demand more robust, responsive tools to help CSPs stay ahead.
Outages can be caused by natural disasters, infrastructure failures, or cyberattacks, and they can happen between a CSP and its customers or between a CSP and carriers. In any scenario, it is critical for CSPs to react quickly to detect, diagnose, and resolve the outage while communicating status updates to subscribers and regulators.
Outages reportable to regulators are typically those that impact an entire geographical area or a substantial portion of the platform, or they disrupt the ability to reach emergency services like 911 or 988. Historically, these outages would only be reported in the FCC’s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS), or in its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) if the outage occurred as part of an officially declared disaster.
In April 2025, the FCC took another step by adopting Order FCC 22-88, “Updates to Rules to Improve 911 Reliability”, to modernize outage reporting standards. Under this Order, the FCC now requires originating cable, satellite, wireless, wireline, and VoIP Service Providers to report to the 5,000+ public safety access points (PSAPs) across the country when an outage occurs that potentially disrupts 900,000 user minutes. The Order also introduced new detection, reporting, and notification requirements for managing outages.
Additionally, some outages also require separate notice to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the 988 Lifeline Administrator, New York’s Department of Public Service, and California’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). These are significant changes that demand CSPs adjust their processes and tooling to stay compliant.
Given these complex and evolving requirements, CSPs need robust solutions to stay compliant. At Alianza, we’ve worked hard to put responsive tools and streamlined processes in place to provide relevant information when outages occur, as they develop, and when they are resolved. This enables CSPs to keep subscribers and regulatory bodies informed.
Our Product and Legal teams continually monitor changes in the federal and state regulatory landscape through participation in multi-party telecom legal counsels and FCC notification feeds that alert us to significant regulatory changes. This enables us to proactively identify necessary updates to our tools and processes, ensuring our customers can trust Alianza to keep them ahead of evolving compliance requirements.
Alianza is a critical strategic partner for Service Providers, and we take our regulatory responsibilities seriously. To learn more about our outage reporting solutions, please reach out to our team today.
