Telecommunications Priority for Public Entities

TELECOMMUNICATIONS PRIORITY FOR PUBLIC ENTITIES

If you rely on wireline or cellular communications services on a daily basis to perform critical national security and emergency preparedness functions, including those areas related to safety, maintenance of law and order, and public health, you should take advantage of the priority services available through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. These services can be extremely beneficial during a major disaster or attack in which the public telecommunications networks are congested by high call volumes and/or damage to the telecommunications infrastructure and the lives and property of the American public is most at risk. Here are summaries of the three services available:

TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PRIORITY (TSP)

TSP is a priority services program for the restoration and provisioning of circuits required by entities with National Security/Emergency Preparedness responsibilities and duties. TSP is offered by telecommunications carriers with a nominal one-time per line enrollment fee and a small monthly fee per line. Once you have this service, the carrier must service your lines before it assists any non-TSP lines. The minimal costs are far outweighed by the risk of inability to communicate during a crisis or losses that you would suffer if your critical lines were out of service and you had to wait on your telecommunication service provider to take care of all TSP lines first before it could service its general waiting list of customers.

For additional information and directions for enrollment, visit

GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE (GETS)

GETS is a National Communications System (NCS) program that prioritizes calls over wireline networks (see below for wireless network priority). Users receive an access card (GETS card), which has both the universal GETS access number and a Personal Identification Number (PIN).By using your GETS card number, your call receives priority over regular calls, thereby greatly increasing the probability that your wireline call will get through the network, even when congested. There is no cost to apply or to obtain a GETS card. A charge of up to 10 cents a minute applies to calls made through the GETS.

For additional information and directions for enrollment, visit

WIRELESS PRIORITY SERVICE (WPS)

WPS is a Federal program that authorizes cellular communications service providers to prioritize calls over wireless networks. Participation in the WPS program is voluntary. Participating service providers typically deploy WPS in stages until service is available in most coverage areas and functionality has reached full operating capability. Authorized users dial *272 on a WPS enabled device to receive calling queue priority. WPS calls do not preempt calls in progress, but provide priority status over cellular communications networks, greatly increasing the probability that your cellular call will get through the network, even with congestion.

WPS is an added feature to your phone; the software changes necessary are handled by the WPS Program Office. You do not need to do anything with your phone or take it to your cellular communications service provider. A one-time activation fee, along with a monthly fee, and per minute charges apply to WPS.

For additional information and directions for enrollment, visit