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The NCS provides priority telecommunications services, coordination and information sharing operations, and other related programs to support NS/EP efforts across Federal, state, and local government, critical infrastructure industry and other authorized NS/EP organizations. The three main priority services programs are:
What is GETS? GETS is a nationwide, priority telecommunications
service that facilitates NS/EP communications by providing emergency
personnel access and priority processing in the local and long distance
segments of the Public Switched Network (PSN) during disasters or
other national security and emergency events. GETS provides access
authorization and priority treatment in the surviving telephone
networks through a unique dialing plan with personal identification
numbers. Its intended use is in an emergency or crisis situation
during which the probability of completing a call over normal or
other alternate telecommunication means has significantly decreased.
What is WPS? WPS allows authorized NS/EP personnel to initiate
calls during an emergency when cellular networks may be congested.
In emergency situations when landline networks are damaged, cellular
telephones often provide the primary means of communication. Increased
cellular phone usage regularly results in extreme network congestion,
preventing key NS/EP personnel from obtaining network access. To
facilitate completion of critical calls during these high usage
events, WPS gives authorized NS/EP personnel priority cellular access
before subscribers who do not have WPS. In addition, WPS is complementary
to, and can be used in conjunction with GETS. This ensures a high
probability of call completion in both the landline and cellular
portions of the Public Switched Network (PSN). WPS serves NS/EP
needs while minimizing the impact on the general public’s access
to the same cellular infrastructure. What is TSP? The TSP Program is a Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) program, managed and operated by the NCS that identifies critical
NS/EP circuits and prioritizes their telecommunication services
that support national security or emergency preparedness missions.
The TSP priorities are for the provisioning and reconstitution of
NS/EP telecommunications services, which are defined as those that
are critical to maintaining a state of readiness for, responding
to, or managing telecommunications during an event or crisis that
could cause harm to the population, damage property, or threaten
the security of the United States. The service vendors will restore
TSP-assigned telecommunications services before any non-TSP services.
Federal, state, local, and foreign governments, as well as certain
private sector organizations, may also have services that qualify
for a TSP assignment.
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