On May 26, 2020, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs sent and publicly released a joint letter to the nation’s governors and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser encouraging them, among other things, to consider CISA guidance on essential critical infrastructure workforce and provide necessary access and resources to the communications workers helping to keep Americans connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With regard to accessibility, the letter asks the governors to declare the following infrastructure and entities as essential to COVID-19 response efforts and to ensure they have appropriate resources and access:
- Businesses and personnel that provide communications support to medical and healthcare facilities, assisted care and living facilities, and people with disabilities, and
- Telecommunications relay services providers and closed captioning providers.
The letter further asks governors to consider prioritizing the distribution of personal protective equipment to communications personnel when availability permits, including those providing support for closed captioning services and telecommunications relay services.
Press Release:
URL: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-cisa-stress-need-communications-industry-access-resources-0
Word: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-364567A1.docx
PDF: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-364567A1.pdf
Text: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-364567A1.txt
Letter to Governors:
PDF: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-364566A1.pdf
For further information, please contact Justin Cain, Chief, Operations and Emergency Management Division, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau at (202) 418-2924 or Justin.Cain@fcc.gov. Individuals who use videophones and are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) may call the FCC’s ASL Consumer Support Line at (844) 432-2275 (videophone).