WASHINGTON –The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday announced it has proposed an $867,000 fine against Lumen Technologies, Inc. related to disruptions to 911 calls in North and South Dakota last year.

The FCC stated Lumen apparently failed to design and operate its network reasonably so as to transmit all 911 calls and to notify, as soon as possible, public safety call centers for two 911 outages that occurred in February 2022.

“If you call 911 for help, your call should reach first responders,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “And if an outage prevents calls from reaching 911, public safety officials should be informed as soon as possible so they can tell the public of alternate ways to reach 911. Consumers expect and deserve round-the-clock 911 services, and the commission will do everything in its powers to ensure carriers consistently deliver on those services.”

On Feb. 17, 2022, Lumen experienced an outage affecting 911 calls in South Dakota that lasted for almost five hours. Because of flaws in its system to notify public safety call centers, Lumen did not notify the two affected centers until days after the outage had ended.

On Feb. 22, 2022, Lumen experienced another 911 outage related to its Bismarck switch. This outage disrupted 911 service for more than seven hours in North Dakota. Similarly, because of flaws in its notification system, Lumen only notified two of 11 affected call centers in a timely manner. This outage resulted in hundreds of emergency calls failing to reach public safety call centers.

An investigation by the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau found that Lumen apparently willfully and repeatedly violated FCC rules by failing to notify public safety call centers in a timely manner of both 911 outages and by deploying a system that was insufficient to transmit all 911 calls reliably to public safety call centers in the second outage, creating a significant threat to the life and property of tens of thousands of people.

The proposed action, formally called a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, or NAL, contains only allegations that advise a party on how it has apparently violated the law and proposes a monetary penalty. The commission may not impose a greater monetary penalty in this case than the amount proposed in the NAL.

Neither the allegations nor the proposed sanctions in the NAL are final commission actions. Lumens has opportunity to respond and the commission will consider the evidence and legal arguments before acting further.