Best Regulatory Practice in Disasters: Lessons in Recent Events

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1 Best Regulatory Practice in Disasters: Lessons in Recent Events

2 Intro to Emergency Regulation GSMA Industry Positions Global Best Practice Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria Key Challenges Regulatory touchpoints

3 GSMA Disaster Response: Works with MNOs to enhance preparedness and response activities Work with humanitarian organisations to increase cross sector collaboration Engage with Government and regulators to support sharing of best practice

4 There are numerous touch points for regulators within the context of disasters: Prevention & Preparation Response Long-term recovery

5 Opportunities and challenges for regulation: At its best, regulation can create an enabling environment that supports rapid recovery after disaster. At its worst, it can inhibit recovery efforts and prolong the recovery period reducing the benefits associated with mobile communication for affected communities.

6 Collaboration opportunities Regulators have an important role to play Input from regulators is welcomed by many operators There is a real opportunity to ensure better industry responses

7 Operators often struggle to recover after disasters Operators lose money and reputation when their service is down, but disasters make recovery very difficult. Disasters render equipment inoperable and make power unreliable Disasters undermine logistics and put overwhelming loads on networks Operators tend to have a limited knowledge of the international humanitarian system, its assets, principles and potential partners, yet must navigate an onslaught of requests by these organisations

8 Industry Position: Emergency Mobile Telecommunications, Regulatory Best Practice Why? The GSMA consolidates its portfolio of best practice industry positions in the Mobile Policy Handbook, a physical and digital resource that is available to operators and telecom regulators How? GSMA policy positions are governed by the Chief Policy and Regulatory Officers Group who approve positions before they are adopted 8

9 The GSMA Industry Position (1): Governments, along with relevant multilateral agencies, and operators should agree a set of regulatory guidelines that can be adopted to best respond to and recover from an emergency. The guidelines should set out unambiguous rules and clearly defined lines of communication between governments and operators in emergency situations. E.g. Chain of approval for temporary permission requests The guidelines should provide operators with flexibility to adjust to unforeseen circumstances rather than insisting that rules designed for non-emergency situations apply, no matter the circumstance. E.g. Balancing of reporting requirements, ability to use assigned spectrum with flexibility 10

10 The GSMA Industry Position (2): Regulators and customs and immigration agencies should build an emergency response plan that allow fast-track approvals for equipment importation and entry of personnel; National-level agencies should establish clear lines of communication with regional and local agencies on telecommunications matters to prevent working at cross purposes or sending mixed or conflicting messages to operators; and Government should encourage operators to cooperate with one another to use available resources intelligently and efficiently. 11

11 Supportive and flexible response channels should be established prior to disasters Regulation should allow for flexibility, enabling regulators to allow operators to adjust to unforeseen circumstances rather than insisting that rules designed for non-emergency situations apply, regardless of the circumstance.

12 Case Studies: Examples of enabling Policies and Regulations for improved disaster response / recovery efforts Japanese Ministry of Communications in response to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami Temporary increase in power levels of certain sites to increase range AFAD Turkey after the Van earthquake (2011) Relaxing privacy laws upon request to allow Turkcell to help locate missing persons trapped under rubble Philippines Financial Regulator Relaxing Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements to enable access to mobile Government-to-Person (G2P) payments after Typhoon Haiyan

13 Hurricanes Irma and Maria: Overview and Impact Situational Map Moderate impact Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Kitts and Neves, Guadeloupe Damage to several towers; MNOs were able to restore quickly High Impact BVI, TCI, USVI, Anguilla, St. Barts Damage to 60% - 80% mobile sites Initial challenges to access, evaluate and restore network Extreme Impact Barbuda, St. Martin, Dominica, Puerto Rico Loss of more than 90% mobile sites Ongoing power outages / fuel shortages Extreme situations & difficulty to restore 14

14 Key Challenges identified Lack of power Extreme (up to 95%) damage to network infrastructure Disrupted road infrastructure Disrupted air travel Fuel shortages Cut fibre Security / Staff and site Lack of engineer accommodation Lack of basic supplies Shortage of critical parts Compounded impact of second hurricane Multi-market impact (stretched MNO resources) Multi-country impact (reduced ability to stage responses) 15

15 Potential solutions: Service providers to have a limited stock of emergency communication equipment to be provided to key government agencies after disasters Emergency legislation that may make provision for waiving of fees Work permits for restoration staff Tax/duty relief for replacement equipment Tower siting and maintenance guidelines that include emergency preparedness plans to be implemented and regularly verified on site Key regulatory areas: Maximum power limits Reporting timelines Minimum Quality of Service Customs Roaming Early Warning Methods 16

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