Deb Collins
Lincoln, Neb. - The Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC) has issued an Order (911-078/DC-104/C-5596) approving a stipulated agreement with Windstream and dismissing the department complaint against the telecommunication carrier concerning three separate 911outages/disruptions.
“Through this agreement Windstream has committed to improving public safety communications by investing more than one million dollars into its network reliability and diversity, ”said Commission Chair Dan Watermeier. “ The agreement provides for civil penalties if Windstream does not complete the agreed upon enhancements and improvements by the end of 2025.”
The agreement includes a 911 Remediation Plan, in which Windstream has agreed, among other improvements to:
- Enhance its back up systems to address power outages.
- Provide an additional layer of reliability and protection against outages by adding a new network path. This additional path creates three separate network paths for traffic into and out of Nebraska. This third path has the capacity to carry all of Windstream’s traffic in Nebraska should the other two paths go down and repairs need to be made.
- Engage a third-party auditor to complete a system reliability and engineering review ofits Nebraska network.
The stipulated agreement follows an investigation involving three separate Windstream service disruptions which occurred on September 2 & 3, November 28, 2023, and January 13, 2024.As part of its investigation the Commission conducted data requests, held a public hearing, and sought analysis from outside experts on network infrastructure specifically in the area of 911network requirements. As a result of the investigation a complaint was filed by the State 911department. The department complaint resulted in the stipulated agreement and the remediation plan approved by the Commission.
Commissioner Watermeier said, “The Commission and the public demand accountability from our telecommunications carriers. While we appreciate Windstream’s willingness to work with us, we will continue to monitor the company’s progress to confirm that it is complying with the agreement.”
With the Order dismissing the complaint and approving the stipulated agreement, a hearing will not be held. A copy of the Order as well as the Remediation Plan can be found on the PSCwebsite at <https://psc.nebraska.gov/state-911/windstream-911-outage-investigation >