Posted 11/01/2001
Total Compliance
FCC Extends CALEA Deadline, Law Enforcement Seeks Broader Authority
By Kim Sunderland
T he Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warns wireline and wireless carriers they have until Nov. 19 to either implement electronic surveillance capabilities or to seek individual waivers from such requirements.
If they don't seek a waiver, carriers will be required to assist law enforcement officials in conducting electronic surveillance under the auspices of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA), a mandate that's become increasingly important since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., have made compliance with CALEA crucial for carriers and for the nation. Compliance has been complicated by the FCC's ongoing implementation proceeding, the Bush administration's push for increased national security and carriers' concerns over costs, technology and ambiguous rules on how to tap packet networks used in e-mail, mobile-phone text messages, web-browsing and Internet telephony.
Since the attack on the United States, CALEA has become the most pressing telecom regulatory issue.
In September, the FCC extended the CALEA compliance deadline upon request of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association. CTIA, backed by mobile and wireline carriers, told the FCC that switching equipment to meet CALEA requirements simply wasn't available.
At the same time, the FCC's Common Carrier and Wireless Telecommunications Bureaus released a notice explaining how carriers may petition the FCC for relief under Section 107(c) of CALEA for further extension of the deadlines. These requests also must be submitted by Nov. 19. The Federal Bureau of Investigation must review the requests before the FCC can take action.
Service providers and the government expect a slow process.
"This task is an important responsibility, affecting the ability of law enforcement agencies to have access to critical information and the obligation of wireless carriers to implement systems that will provide that information," says FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps. "I believe it is incumbent upon us to act as swiftly as possible."
But the words "swift" and "CALEA" don't mesh, Washington sources say. The commission already has granted petitions filed by hundreds of carriers seeking extensions and many more requests are expected.
It's easy to see why carriers, packet-switch makers and third-party developers are in a tizzy when concerns over spiraling development costs are combined with ambiguous guidelines and definitions.
They say they are being asked to build a technical solution based on an unfinished legal document -- without sufficient detail to get it right.
The FCC is trying, but obviously it's having problems with CALEA, to sort out the details since August 2000, when it was ordered by a District of Columbia appeals court to better explain its CALEA requirements.
This remains an ongoing proceeding at the FCC, albeit one that has been moved onto a front burner.
"In suspending this compliance date, we have established outside target dates for completing our actions on the remand proceeding and mandating compliance with these aspects of CALEA," Copps explains. "I am pleased that the order targets a date no later than the end of this year for completion of the remand proceeding and makes this proceeding a priority."
The terrorist attacks, according to some industry observers, actually make it tougher for the FCC to delay and could make carriers more amenable to meeting CALEA requirements sooner rather than later.
But carriers face other hurdles as well, notes Vincent Guytan, product manager for signaling and next-generation software at Taqua Systems Inc. Taqua created and manufactures a Class 5 replacement switch that integrates software, thus enabling carriers to become CALEA compliant.
Guytan says the FCC's lack of action from August 2000 to Sept. 18 of this year created a vacuum in technology development, rendering some carriers unable to meet CALEA standards. The total technology package still isn't all there.
The cost issue also looms large. Providers may be forced to spend from $40,000 to $200,000 to upgrade a single switch for CALEA compliance. If a company has thousands of switches in its network, the costs are multiplied. And it's a network upgrade that won't generate additional revenue.
Just as the FCC struggles to confirm that service providers are able to meet the wiretap rules of CALEA, the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice aggressively pursue broader authority to conduct wiretaps, monitor the Internet and track foreign students and immigrants as part of their war on terrorism.
All these concerns are part of the heated debate under way on Capitol Hill as Congress struggles to address technical and economic concerns and individual civil liberties while protecting national security interests.
