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FCC Refuses Release of Cell Phone Service Outage Records For Security Reasons

MSNBC: “Consumers have no idea how reliable their cell phone service will be when they buy a phone and sign a long-term contract. The Federal Communications Commission could offer some guidance, but it won’t. The agency refuses to make public a detailed database of cell phone provider outages that it has maintained since 2004. A federal Freedom of Information Act request for the data, filed in August by MSNBC.com, has been rejected by the agency. The stated reasons: Release of the information could help terrorists plan attacks against the United States, and it would harm the companies involved.”

  • Related news: FCC Cuts Public Line To Phone Outage Data, By Christopher Stern, Washington Post, Saturday, August 28, 2004: “The Federal Communications Commission, citing concerns about national security, has abandoned a 10-year-old policy and will no longer give the public access to information about past telephone network outages.”
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