April 26, 1999 NRIC'S REPORT TO FCC SAYS U.S. TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ON TRACK TO ACHIEVE YEAR 2000 READINESS Attached is the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council's (NRIC) news release on a report to the FCC on the U.S. telecommunications industry assessment of Year 2000 readiness. On March 30, 1999, the FCC released its Y2K communications sector report. Copies of the FCC's report can be obtained on the FCC's website: . News media contacts: Audrey Spivack at (202) 418-0500 or Nancy Plon at (202) 418- 2899 -FCC- NETWORK RELIABILITY AND INTEROPERABILITY COUNCIL Contact: John Pasqua AT&T 908 542-6401 jpasqua@att.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. Telecommunications Industry On Track to Achieve Year 2000 Readiness Washington, D.C. April 19, 1999 The U.S. telecommunications industry is on track to continue providing uninterrupted local and long distance services into the next century according to the Federal Communications Commission's advisory council responsible for assessing Year 2000 (Y2K) readiness. In a report to the FCC, the Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) announced that their findings were based on surveying companies across the telecommunications industry. ASSESSMENT of U.S. TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS As of March 1999, approximately 90 percent of local and 99 percent of long distance switches in the U.S. Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) were expected to be Y2K ready. NRIC reported that 100 percent of large Local Exchange Carrier (LEC) and major Inter-Exchange Carrier (IXC) switches are expected to be fully Y2K ready by the end of June 1999. Mid-sized LECs, while trailing their larger company counterparts, appear to be on track to achieve Y2K readiness in the third and fourth quarters of 1999. Because many smaller LECs still need to report progress, several industry associations, whose membership includes these smaller companies, have agreed to communicate these results to their members to increase awareness of the situation and to promote information sharing of their Y2K compliance efforts. NRIC also reported that major LECs and IXCs have completed network interoperability testing or have plans in place to complete these tests. Based on completion of these tests, the majority of access and inter-exchange switch and signaling vendors identified no major interoperability gaps. ASSESSMENT of NETWORK ACCESS The NRIC report also provided specifics on the readiness of customer premises equipment (CPE) and systems that interface with the PSTN. The report was generally positive about the efforts of the CPE industry (which includes PBXs, key systems, faxes, modems, and wireless devices) to achieve Y2K readiness. NRIC recognizes the importance of 9-1-1 emergency calls in addition to continuing to provide customers with dial tone. It was reported that while the PSTN is expected to continue to deliver 9-1-1 calls to Public Safety Answering Positions (PSAP), which are utilized by local governments in responding to 9-1-1 calls, some PSAPs may not be able to process calls with all of their ancillary features unless upgraded to be Y2K ready. Many large LECs are working with local governments to identify PSAP requirements for Y2K readiness. The NRIC report urged CPE owners to take responsibility to find out about the Y2K date issues associated with their devices and systems. NRIC suggests equipment owners conduct a thorough evaluation of their systems to ensure that any required upgrades are identified and obtained and to visit manufacturers' Y2K web sites for product-by-product matrix listings that provide specifics on readiness; whether testing has been done; if upgrades are required; etc. ASSESSMENT of INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS Based on a compilation of various public and private assessments of countries that represent approximately 96 percent of international traffic to and from the U.S., NRIC reported that some 75 percent of those countries have an increased risk in achieving Y2K readiness as compared with the Council's January assessment. Of eight geographic regions sampled, six were perceived as high risk with a strong indication that some countries in the region may not achieve Y2K readiness by January 1, 2000; and two as medium risk. Based on information provided, 191 countries have been assessed for Y2K readiness by NRIC. For those countries whose Y2K telecommunications readiness may be an issue to the U.S., NRIC is working with the Department of State and other government agencies, as well as other industry sectors, prioritizing countries that are at significant risk in achieving Y2K readiness. ASSESSMENT OF INDUSTRY-WIDE CONTINGENCY PLANNING In its report, NRIC also focused on industry-wide Y2K contingency planning efforts. A primary focus of the industry is communications among participants in the unlikely event of network outages associated with Y2K. In its report, NRIC indicated that a national system is being planned that could be used as a communications tool to share information on real-time Y2K experiences with counterparts around the world. This communications system will allow a global approach for the coordination and resolution of telecommunications problems, regardless of their nature or location but also could be beneficial in providing information that systems are working properly. Overall, NRIC reported the U.S. telecommunications industry is effectively approaching Y2K readiness, well in advance of the turn-of-the century, and that public telecommunications networks are expected to continue to reliably function, interoperate and interconnect on and after January 1, 2000. For those interested, NRIC will co-sponsor a contingency planning workshop with the USTA on April 27, 1999 at the Washington Dulles Hilton. Specifics regarding this and each of NRIC's sub-committee presentations can be found on the NRIC web site at http://www.nric.org Information on other NRIC activities associated with general network reliability can be found at http://www.atis.org/atis/nrsc/nrscinfo.htm.