
Media Contact:
Will Wiquist, 202-418-0509
Will.Wiquist@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
FCC REACHES $17.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH T-MOBILE FOR
NATIONWIDE 911 OUTAGES
New Compliance Plan Will Improve 911 Service Reliability
Washington, D.C., July 17, 2015 - The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau has
reached a $17.5 million settlement with T-Mobile, resolving an investigation into two 911 service outages
that occurred on the company's national network last year. The separate but related outages, which
together lasted approximately three hours, prevented T-Mobile customers from reaching first responders
when making wireless 911 calls. As part of the settlement, T-Mobile has agreed to strengthen its 911
service procedures and to adopt robust compliance measures to ensure that it adheres to the FCC's 911
service reliability and outage notification rules in the future.
The Commission has no higher priority than ensuring the reliability and resilience of our nations
communications networks so that consumers can reach public safety in their time of need, said FCC
Chairman Tom Wheeler. Communications providers that do not take necessary steps to ensure that
Americans can call 911 will be held to account.
Americans across the country rely upon 911 in times of critical need, said Travis LeBlanc, Chief of the
Enforcement Bureau. As the federal agency tasked with ensuring the reliability of the Nation's 911
networks, we take this responsibility seriously and will continue to work with the nation's phone carriers
to ensure that all calls for help are received by first responders and emergency personnel.
T-Mobile's network suffered two 911 outages on August 8, 2014. The outages together lasted
approximately three hours. On average, nearly 27,400 calls per hour are placed to 911 nationwide for all
providers. Both T-Mobile outages were nationwide outages, affecting almost all of T-Mobile's then 50
million customers. Simply put, a T-Mobile customer dialing 911 during these outages would not have
reached first responders.
In its investigation, the Enforcement Bureau found that T-Mobile did not provide timely notification of
the August 8, 2014, outages to all affected 911 call centers, as required by FCC rules. The investigation
also found that the outages would have been avoided if T-Mobile had implemented appropriate
safeguards in its 911 network architecture.
To resolve the Bureau's investigation, T-Mobile will pay a $17.5 million fine and has agreed to
implement a compliance program to strengthen its 911 resilience and its 911 risk management processes.
In particular, T-Mobile will develop and implement processes to:
Identify risks that could result in disruptions to 911 service;
Protect against such risks;
Detect future 911 outages;
Respond with remedial actions, including prompt notification to affected 911 call centers; and
Recover from such outages on a timely basis.
In addition, T-Mobile will maintain up-to-date contact information for 911 call centers and adopt a plan to
notify 911 call centers during outages. The consent decree also requires T-Mobile to file detailed
compliance reports with the Enforcement Bureau.
Rear Admiral (ret.) David Simpson, Chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said, This
Consent Decree includes a commitment by T-Mobile not only to address risk of 911 service failure, but
also to improve its 911 call center reporting and its ability to recognize, respond to, and rapidly recover
from 911 disruptions.
The Commission has adopted a number of rules intended to ensure seamless, ubiquitous, and reliable 911
service nationwide. These rules include the obligation for wireless carriers to implement 911 routing and
delivery systems to ensure that 911 calls are transmitted to the appropriate 911 emergency call centers and
to notify those call centers of 911 service outages lasting longer than 30 minutes.
Today's settlement with T-Mobile represents the largest fine that the FCC has assessed against a carrier in
connection with a 911 outage and it is the fourth major enforcement action involving 911 outages that the
FCC has taken this year. In April, the FCC entered a $16 million settlement with CenturyLink and a $1.4
million settlement with Intrado Communications in connection with an April 2014 multi-state 911 outage
that lasted for over six hours. In March, the FCC settled with Verizon for $3.4 million in connection with
the same April 2014 outage.
The T-Mobile Consent Decree is available at:
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-808A1.pdf
The CenturyLink, Intrado Communications, and Verizon consent decrees are available at:
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-406A1.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-421A1.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-308A1.pdf
###
Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @FCC
www.fcc.gov/office-media-relations
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes
official action. See MCI v. FCC, 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
29/04/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted a new licensing framework and new sharing rules for the lower 37-GHz spectrum band that the agency ...
29/04/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously voted to pass a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that the agency said would codify certain foreign...
29/04/2025
Deity Microphones are excited to add the Deity THEOS DXTX Plug-On Transmitter to the THEOS family. The DXTX is packed full of advanced features designed to enha...
29/04/2025
Origin of life twist: New study challenges longstanding hypothesis on how first sugars formed Scripps Research and Georgia Institute of Technology scientists...
28/04/2025
Podcasts have become a cornerstone of the Spotify experience, evolving from a ni...
28/04/2025
Each April, runners and walkers of all stripes gather together in Lower Manhattan for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum 5K. This race remembers those killed on Septemb...
28/04/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 28, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) Chief Financial Officer and Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield will present at Bar...
28/04/2025
HACKENSACK, NJ LiveU, a global provider of live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Actus...
28/04/2025
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Actus Digital's ...
28/04/2025
Ikegami Electronics (Europe) will promote the latest additions to its range of broadcast-quality television production equipment at Broadcast Innovation Day (BI...
28/04/2025
Intinor is once again set to collaborate with its UK partner Zest Technologies at MPTS 2025 (Olympia, 14-15 May 2025). Following the recent launch of key update...
28/04/2025
CJP Broadcast, the UK-based systems integrator specialising in virtual production and broadcast studio design, installation, commissioning and support, will ret...
28/04/2025
The media landscape in the Middle East continues to see a rise in OTT platforms, regional content creation, and expanding viewer expectations, which means the d...
28/04/2025
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of StreamPort Media as its authorized distributor in the Middle East. This partnership will expand access to Clear-Com&...
28/04/2025
nxtedition will showcase its unified production platform at CABSAT 2025, featuring advanced AI automation, open-source integrations and a seamless approach to l...
28/04/2025
nxtedition will demonstrate its story-first production platform at MPTS 2025, highlighting integrated AI Agents, open-source language models, and frictionless c...
28/04/2025
Keepit has teamed with Ingram Micro, a leading business-to-business platform company for the global technology ecosystem, to expand access to Keepit's vendo...
28/04/2025
Ross Video, a global leader in video production technology, is participating in CABSAT 2025, taking place at the Dubai World Trade Center.
CABSAT is the leadi...
28/04/2025
Disguise, the leading platform and solutions provider driving the next generation of visual experiences, has appointed Jake Stone as its Senior Vice President o...
28/04/2025
Lightware, a global leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, is set to return to InfoComm 2025 with a dynamic showcase of industry-first innovati...
28/04/2025
arkona technologies GmbH, provider of cutting-edge IP core infrastructure solutions has announced that its EASY-IP platform is the recipient of Future's Bes...
28/04/2025
TMT Insights wrapped up an award-winning NAB 2025 with two of its high-profile customer engagements recognized with Project of the Year Awards: Content Acquisit...
28/04/2025
Fix Format Issues & Enhance Videos 80% Faster with VideoProc AI - Major Update
Brie Clayton April 25, 2025
0 Comments
VideoProc Converter AI just got ...
28/04/2025
New in Premiere Pro and After Effects at NAB 2025 - Larry Jordan with Kylee Pe a...
28/04/2025
The Text Selector Expression is arguably the most elusive Adobe After Effects Fe...
28/04/2025
Master your music for free with a new desktop app from Brainworx
Brie Clayton April 27, 2025
0 Comments
bx_mastering studio promises free streaming-re...
28/04/2025
LiveU Inks Deal to Acquire Actus Digital, Boost Video Monitoring and Analytics C...
28/04/2025
Small Van, Big Story: Changing the Game in Sports Broadcasting with Obvious C By SVG Staff
Monday, April 28, 2025 - 10:51 am
Print This Story | Subscribe ...
28/04/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ESPN's Chris Calcinari on New Flagship Mobile Unit, Cloud and ...
28/04/2025
A Swiss Soccer Summer: Previewing UEFA Women's Euros 2025 with BBC Sport and...
28/04/2025
Monday 28 April 2025
New research from Sky Sports, released today, shows that w...
28/04/2025
Monday 28 April 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To...
28/04/2025
After 20 Legendary Seasons Sky is Hanging Up The Boots of its BAFTA-winning Sports Show. Production of farewell series tees off this summerMonday 28 April 2025
...
28/04/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Celebrates the Creative Tapestry of APAC Films at Tokyo Showcase
Entertainment
28 April 2025
GlobalJapanSouth KoreaIndiaThailandInd...
28/04/2025
Back to All News
Get Ready for Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event! Watch the Tr...
28/04/2025
As enterprises increasingly adopt AI, securing AI factories - where complex, agentic workflows are executed - has never been more critical.
NVIDIA is bringing ...
28/04/2025
Agentic AI is redefining the cybersecurity landscape - introducing new opportunities that demand rethinking how to secure AI while offering the keys to addressi...
28/04/2025
Oracle has stood up and optimized its first wave of liquid-cooled NVIDIA GB200 N...
27/04/2025
It's with deep regret that we share the passing of our dear friend Bruce Logan, ASC.
Bruce was not just a collaborator-he was family. He worked with us at ...
27/04/2025
Back to All News
KAULITZ & KAULITZ - Launch date and first look for season 2
Entertainment
27 April 2025
GlobalGermany
Link copied to clipboard
KAULITZ & ...
27/04/2025
Back to All News
Senna Wins Best Series Creator Category At The 2025 PLATINO Awards
Entertainment
27 April 2025
GlobalBrazil
Link copied to clipboard
This...
27/04/2025
Back to All News
Masterclass With Creative Team Behind Adolescence Takes Filmma...
26/04/2025
NEW YORK Samsung Ads has debuted a new interactive advertising format, Creative Canvas, that helps automate and deliver interactive ads....
26/04/2025
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Sinclair has appointed Vincent J. Sollecito vice president and general manager of WPEC, serving the West Palm Beach, Florida market....
26/04/2025
NEW YORK and DENVER AD-ID and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced that they are working together to promote the adoption of industry standards in ...
26/04/2025
Cobalt Scores a Trifecta of Awards at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton April 25, 2025
0 Comments
Company adds another Best of Show and two Product of the Year tr...
26/04/2025
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2025 entries
Brie Clayton April 25, 2025
0 Comments
Entries open from 1 May 31 July to colourists on any grading pl...
26/04/2025
Blackmagic's Latest Products - Larry Jordan Guest Spots with Dan May at NAB ...
25/04/2025
Emily Watson, Isaiah Saxon, Helena Zengel, and Finn Wolfhard at The Legend of Ochi premiere (photo by Soul Brother/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...