WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission named Nancy Victory to head an independent panel to examine the effects of Hurricane Katrina on communications networks.
“The destruction of Hurricane Katrina caused to communications facilities, and therefore the services upon which first responders and citizens rely, was extraordinary. We must review the disaster’s effect on the infrastructure and determine ways to minimize such destruction in the future. Nancy Victory is particularly well qualified to serve as the chair of the important panel,” said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.
The independent panel will be made up of public-safety and other communications industry representatives, said the FCC. No other panel members have been named.
Victory is the former assistant Commerce secretary for communications and information. She recently authored “Homeland Security and Communications: A Compendium of Federal Programs.” After serving in the Bush administration, she returned to the communications law powerhouse of Wiley, Rein & Fielding L.L.P., where she is a partner and where Martin once worked.
It is unclear why Martin felt the need to create a new panel when the FCC already has the Network Reliability & Interoperability Commission. NRIC, made up of industry executives, has been meeting for more than a decade to collect data and examine solutions to network outages. Its portfolio of issues has increased and grown more important with the advent of homeland security. Today NRIC is focusing on wireless enhanced 911 service, and for the first time, a public-safety official is on the council. Timothy Donahue, executive chairman of Sprint Nextel Corp., is NRIC VII’s chairman.
The FCC did not say whether the independent panel would conduct open meetings or whether it plans to issue a final report once the panel finishes its work.
The FCC did not respond to requests for comment on the story.
