Critical Infrastructure Coordination Group CICG Meeting 5th Floor

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TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PRIORITY (TSP)
Presenter Ms. Joan Grewe (MCI)
March 2, 2004
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About TSP

• The TSP Program ensures priority treatment for
• the Nation's most important telecommunication
• services, services supporting national
  security or
• emergency preparedness (NS/EP) missions.
• NS/EP services are the services used
• to maintain a state of readiness
• to respond to and manage any event or crisis
  (local,
• national, or international) which causes or
  could cause
• injury or harm to the population
• damage to or loss of property
• degradation or threat to the NS/EP posture of
• the United States.

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Legal Background

• On November 17, 1988, the FCC issued a Report and
  Order (FCC 88-341) establishing the TSP Program
  as the regulatory, administrative, and
  operational framework for priority provisioning
  and restoration of qualified NS/EP
  telecommunications services.
• The TSP Program was created as an amendment to
  Part 64 of the FCC's Rules and Regulations
  (Title 47 CFR).
• The FCC designated the Executive Office of the
  President (EOP) as administrator of the TSP
  Program. The EOP delegated its responsibilities
  to the Manager of the National Communications
  System (NCS), which, in turn, assigned the
  administration and execution of the TSP Program
  to the Office of Priority Telecommunications
  (OPT) located at the NCS.

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Who Qualifies for TSP?
Organizations with telecommunications services
that support either a national security or
emergency preparedness mission

• Federal users
• Non-Federal users (via Federal sponsor)
• State local government (state EOCs, police,
  fire, EMS)
• Foreign governments, within U.S. jurisdiction
  (embassy)
• Private Industry (power / gas utilities,
  hospitals, etc.)

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What are NS/EP Telecommunications Services?
NS/EP telecommunications services are those
services used to maintain a state of readiness or
to respond to and manage any event or crisis
which causes or could cause injury or harm to the
population, damage to or loss of property, or
degrades or threatens the NS/EP posture of the
United States.
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TSP Categories
National Security Leadership Presidential
communications service critical to COG national
leadership during crises and Intelligence warning
of catastrophic attack National Security Posture
U.S. Population Attack Warning Services
essential to optimum defense, diplomatic, or
continuity of government postures before, during,
and after crisis situations including Federal,
State, and local governments, and national space
operations Public Health, Safety and Maintenance
of Law and Order Services necessary for giving
civil alert, maintaining law and order and the
health and safety of the U.S. population Public
Welfare and Maintenance of the National Economic
Posture Services necessary for maintaining the
public welfare and national economic posture
during any national or regional emergency
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TSP Components

The TSP program contains two primary and
distinctive components
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What is TSP Restoration?

• Restoration means the repair or returning to
  service of telecommunications services that have
  experienced a service outage or are unusable for
  any reason.
• Priority restoration is applied to new or
  existing telecommunications services to ensure
  restoration before any other services.
• TSP restoration priorities must be requested and
  assigned before a service outage occurs.

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Who is a Sponsor?

• All non-Federal users who request a TSP
  provisioning or
  restoration assignment are
  required to have a Federal agency sponsor their
  request.
• A sponsor can be any Federal agency with which a
  non-Federal user may be affiliated, as specified
  in Executive Order 12656, Assignment of
  Emergency Preparedness Responsibilities, dated
  November 18, 1988.
• The primary roles of a Federal sponsor are to
• Review and determine whether to approve foreign,
  State, and local government and private industry
  requests for priority actions.
• Affirm that the requested priority level
  assignment is appropriate.

A Federal sponsor does not incur financial
liability for the sponsored service.
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Restoration Flow Diagram
Manager, NCS OPT
Federal User / Contracting Activity
Vendor

• User requests a TSP authorization
• TSP Authorization Code is issued to User
• User provides TSP Code with service order to
  Vendor
• Vendor records TSP status in circuit records, and
  confirms completion to NCS/OPT
• (Completed before a Loss of Service)

• After Loss of Service
• Vendor records identify circuits
• for priority restoration.
• Response is automatic.

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What is TSP Provisioning?

• A key feature of the TSP Program is that users
  can obtain provisioning priority from service
  vendors for the installation of new NS/EP
  services
• A provisioning priority authorizes the service
  vendor to take steps to provide the service
  earlier than the vendors normal business
  procedures would allow

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Who is an Invocation Official?
An invocation official is a designated individual
with the authority and responsibility to approve
the cost and criticality of the provisioning
request of a telecommunications service.

• The primary roles of an invocation official are
  to

• Certify that the NS/EP telecom service is so
  vital that it must be
• expeditiously provisioned.
• Delegate authority to approve provisioning
  requests and authorize
• the expenditure of funds to other
  appropriate individuals within their
• agency or organization.
• Identify delegates in writing to the OPT.

Who can be designated as an Invocation Official?

• The head or director of a Federal department or
  agency
• Commander of a unified or specified military
  command
• Chief of a military service
• Commander of a major military command
• State Governors

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Provisioning Flow Diagram
Manager, NCS OPT
Invocation Official
User / Contracting Activity
Vendor

• User Vendor pre-coordinate proposed Service
  Order
• Invocation Official certifies Users request for
  Provisioning
• User requests a Provisioning Priority
• TSP Authorization Code is issued to User
• User provides TSP Code with service order to
  Vendor
• Vendor expedites service order and confirms
  completion to NCS/OPT

Service Order processed with Best Effort
priority
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How Does TSP Provisioning Work?
DISASTER AREA
FECC Coordinates TSP Provisioning request
FECC
Authorized Invocation Official Approves Funding
Service User
Service Provider
Identify new circuit require- ments
Office of Priority Telecommunications
Issues TSP Authorization Code
Innovation Officials have the authority to
approve the cost and criticality of a TSP
provisioning request
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What are TSP ServiceVendor Responsibilities?

• After a qualified NS/EP user receives a TSP
  assignment from the OPT, the user forwards the
  TSP Authorization Code to a service vendor in a
  service order. The vendor provides TSP service
  only after receipt of a TSP Authorization Code
  from the user.
• The vendor then
• Provides the circuit ID to the OPT in a vendor
  confirmation
• Ensures TSP System priorities supersede any other
  telecommunications priority
• Restores existing services before provisioning
  new TSP services
• Provides the provisioning and/or restoration
  priority level assigned to a service to
  subcontractors and interconnecting carriers
• Participates in the annual reconciliation of TSP
  information at the request of the OPT
• Completes reconciliation of TSP information with
  all subcontractors every three years

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What is the Sequence for Priority Services?

• In resolving conflicts, the Executive Office of
  the President requires that restoration and
  provisioning of TSP services follow this
  sequence.
• 1. Restore TSP services assigned restoration
  priority 1.
• 2. Provision Emergency TSP assigned provisioning
  priority E.
• 3. Restore TSP Services assigned restoration
  priority 2, 3, 4,
• or 5.
• 4. Provision TSP Services assigned provisioning
  priority 1, 2,
• 3, 4, or 5.

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How Do Vendors Respond to Emergency TSP
Provisionings?
EMERGENCY

• When service vendors receive an E provisioning
  priority, they will take immediate action and
  allocate the resources necessary to provide the
  service as soon as possible
• If a vendor receives more than one E TSP request
  from different users, the vendor will provision
  them in order of receipt

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How Do Vendors Respond toEssential TSP
Provisionings?
ESSENTIAL

• When service vendors receive an essential
  provisioning priority, they will make their best
  effort to provision the service by the requested
  due dates.
• Service vendors will provision essential TSP
  services, which are assigned the same
  provisioning priority and the same service due
  date, in the order in which they received the
  requests.

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Why Should I Use TSP?

• TSP provides service vendors with a FCC mandate
  for prioritizing services that are critical to
  NS/EP
• TSP is a critical tool for emergency response and
  recovery efforts
• TSP provisioning might be the only means of
  installing new services in a time of crisis
• TSP restoration enables the NS/EP community to
  have telecommunications services restored prior
  to other services

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TSP Web Site

http//tsp.ncs.gov
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Contact Information
MAILING ADDRESS Office of the Manager, National
Communications System ATTN Office of Priority
Telecommunications (OPT) 701 South
Court House Road Arlington, VA 22204-2198
WEBSITE http//tsp.ncs.gov E-MAIL tsp_at_ncs.gov
TELEPHONE Business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or
after hours OPT [phone] (703)
607-4932 DSN [phone] [phone]
FACSIMILE Unclassified OPT (703)
607-4937 DSN [phone] Call the OPT to
obtain classified facsimile information