STATE OF MAINE
PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

						
       Mark A. Vannoy										         Harry Lanphear
           Chairman									      	Administrative Director

    R. Bruce Williamson
      Randall D. Davis
         COMMISSIONERS                        		 		                                                	    	 
	
LOCAL EXCHANGE CARRIER
PROCEDURE FOR ENHANCED 9-1-1 NOTIFICATIONS FOR
PLANNED AND UNPLANNED OUTAGES 

Effective January 31, 2009, Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) and facilities-based Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) operating in Maine are requested to comply with the following procedures in notifying the Emergency Services Communication Bureau (the “Bureau”) and the Fairpoint E9-1-1 Response Center (the “FERC”) of planned and unplanned outages impacting a telephone customer’s ability to access Enhanced 9-1-1.

Planned Outages:

1.	At least 10 days prior to the planned outage, contact the Bureau by email or fax and provide the following:  (use email: robert.k.gasper@maine.gov  or maria.jacques@maine.gov 

•	Date of planned outage
•	Duration of planned outage
•	Wire centers and estimated number of customers affected
•	Whether dial tone will be maintained
•	Name, address, and telephone number (cell & pager if available) of company contact during outage

2.	The Bureau will notify the FERC and the affected PSAPs of the planned outage. (The FERC operates 24 hours a day. It monitors PSAP activity, conducts testing and maintains system records. It can also re-route 9-1-1 calls if customers have dial tone but the PSAP is unable to receive calls.)  

3.	After the planned outage, the LEC/CLEC must test each exchange as soon as possible to make sure that 9-1-1 calls can be made successfully, thereby assuring no translations or network connections were lost. Test using residential, business and pay phones, not central office tech lines or trunks.

4.	When the testing is complete, the LEC will call the FERC, 1-866-984-3911 and advise that the test calls were successfully completed. The FERC will notify the Bureau and the affected PSAP(s) that service has been restored.

Unplanned Outages:

In the event there is an unplanned outage resulting in loss of dial tone or isolation of a central office switch or remote, use the following procedure:

1.	Immediately contact the FERC, 1-866-984-3911 and notify them of the outage, explaining the following: 

•	An outage has unexpectedly occurred
•	Wire centers and estimated number of customers affected
•	Anticipated restoration time, if known.  If you don’t know, do your best to estimate
•	Effect on E-911 calls (whether or not a customer has dial tone or not)
•	Name and telephone number (cell & pager if available) of company representative during outage

2.	The FERC will notify the Bureau and the affected PSAPs of the outage.

3.	When the service has been restored, the LEC/CLEC must test each exchange to make sure that 9-1-1 calls can be made successfully, thereby assuring no translations, or network connections were lost. Test using residential, business and pay phones, not central office tech lines or trunks.

4.	When the testing is complete, the LEC/CLEC will call the FERC, 1-866-984-3911 and advise that all test calls were successfully completed. The FERC will notify the Bureau and the affected PSAP(s) that service has been restored.

Nothing in this procedure is intended to relieve a LEC or CLEC of reporting responsibilities required Chapter 2 of the Bureau’s rules (http://www.maine911.com/laws_rules/rules.htm)  or any other applicable rules promulgated by the MPUC.

Bureau Contact Information:
Below is contact information for the Bureau if you need to contact them directly:

Robert Gasper
robert.k.gasper@maine.gov
(207) 287-6085 (work)
(207) 215-8278 (after hours)

Maria Jacques
Maria.jacques@maine.gov
(207) 287-6083 (work)
(207) 215-8264 (after hours)

Revision: 9/15/2015