Telecom panel calls for more emergency preparedness funding

A presidentially appointed advisory group representing the telecommunications industry on Tuesday told White House and Homeland Security Department officials that more funding is needed to improve disaster response.

The National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee approved a report calling on the federal government to increase spending for analysis, research and development of enhancements to existing electric grids to help handle long-term power outages.

A separate draft report -- which the advisory committee will discuss further and consider for approval next month -- stated that federal, state and local agencies and industry should join together to improve communications systems for first responders in the event of a major disaster.

"To ensure a comprehensive preparation for and response to the widest range of crises and incidents, emergency responders must have operable and interoperable communications systems," the unapproved report's executive summary stated. "As evidenced by the communications shortcomings experienced during the events of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and Hurricane Katrina, the nation still remains short of this goal."

Neither report offered an estimate of how much federal agencies would have to spend to meet the recommendations.

"Katrina gave us a glimpse of what it might be like if we had a severe" telecommunications disruption, said Duane Ackerman, chairman and chief executive of BellSouth and former NSTAC chairman. Greg Brown, president of Motorola's Networks and Enterprise division, said the federal government needs to buy "rapidly deployable communications technology" to support first responders in the event of complete or significant network damage after a disaster.

DHS Undersecretary for Preparedness George Foresman told industry officials that he wanted the committee to vote sooner rather than later on the draft report. The vote originally would have taken place in late January, but the panel agreed to vote by the middle of the month.

"We very much want to wrap our arms around it inside the department," Foresman said of the report, predicting "a very robust upcoming public policy debate" regarding telecommunications improvement.

Before the advisory committee met publicly with DHS officials, the group met with President Bush and DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff in an exchange that was closed to the press.

While much of the discussion at Tuesday's meeting centered on interoperability in the event of a disaster, John Grimes, the Defense Department's chief information officer, told industry representatives that he remains concerned about the federal government's ability to stave off technological attacks.

"Our networks - I'm not going to use the word vulnerability - are under attack," he told telecommunications representatives. "Your networks are under attack," he said, adding that "physical as well as cyber" security strategies need strengthening.