National Emergency
Telecommunication Regulatory
Framework (NETRF)
Workshop Agenda
15th -19th February 2016
Islamabad, Pakistan
Observations
 Accountability
 Common Terminology
 Verification of Plans
Audit
 Validation of Plans
Exercise
 Compliance
NETRF Vision
What is NETRF?
 “...set of before, during and after disaster
and emergency, requirements for key
telecommunication stakeholders to
continue delivering key emergency
telecommunication product and
services with predefined:
 minimum acceptable levels (MAL)
 recovery point objective (RPO)
 recovery time objective (RTO)
Emergency is a Function of Time
nausea
loss of
consciousness
vomit
collapse
Poison
Die
Live
spazm
coma
die
NETRF SCOPE
 Key Stakeholders
Call Services
Messaging Services
Internet Services
Societal Security Services
 Emergency numbers
 Notification
 LBS
Case Study:
Van Earthquake, 2011
23 Oct. / 09 Nov. 2011
Hit by 7.2 and 5.6 Richter Scale Mag.
Earthquakes
Case Study: Van Earthquake,
2011
 Free Package
 energy cut
 Closed SIM
 X4+ traffic
reactivated
 ~20 MBTS
 Thousands of e.
 1 OMC
SMS
 300+ staff 7/24  LBS & 11+ saved
Why NETRF?
Help to save lives
Legal Compliance
Emergency
Telecommunication
Secure
Supply
Chain
Common
Management
System
Definitions
“National Disaster Management Act,2010”
 2.(a) “affected area”
 Means an area or part of the country affected by a disaster
 2.(b) “disaster”
 Means a catastrophe or a calamity in an affected area,
arising from natural or man-made causes or by accident
which results in a substancial lost of life or human
suffering or damage to, and destruction of property
 2.(c) “disaster management”
 Means managing the complete disaster spectrum,
including
 (i)
preparedness
 (ii)
response
 (iii)
recovery and rehabilitation
 (iv)
reconstruction
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organization) Act, 1996
 Every licence granted under this Act may, inter
alia, contain:
 obligations to provide telecommunication service to
particular persons or areas to meet minimum standards for
quality and grade of services requirements;
 obligation not to interrupt service except for failure of
the customer to comply with his contractual obligations or
out of genuine technical necessity or by reason of
circumstances to which National Security applies;
Legal And Regulatory Requirements
National Disaster Management Act, 11 Dec 2010

9.a National Authority shall prepare the national plan approved by the National
Commission
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16. Powers and Functions of Provincial Authority
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20. Power and Functions of District Authority
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(f) establish emergency communication system in the affected area
32. Emergency Procurement and Accounting
33. Punishment for obstruction – Whoever, without reasonable cause
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1. There shall be plan for disaster management for every district of the Province
22. Additional powers of the District Authority
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2. (s) ensure communication systems are in order and disaster management drills are carried out periodically
21. District Plan
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2. (l) ensure that communication systems are in order and disaster management drills are being carried out
regularly
(a) obstructs any officer and employee…
(b) refuces to comply with any direction given…
Shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 1 year or with fine or with both and , if such
obsruction or refusal to comply with such directions results in loss of lives or imminent danger thereto, shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both
40. Direction to media for communication of warnings, etc – The National Authority, a
Provincial Authority, a District Authority may give direction to any authority or person in
control of any audio or audio-visual media or such other means of communication
as may be available to carry out warnings or advisories regarding any impending
disaster situation or disaster, and such authority or person shall comply with such
direction
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
Telecommunications Policy, 2015 - 7.8 Telecommunications and National Disaster Management:

7.8.1 A National Disaster Telecommunications Plan for the provision and
use of telecommunications services before, during and after a national
disaster will be formulated

7.8.2 The National Plan will specify:

(a) The services to be provided during each phase of a disaster: these services will
comprise of the services to be provided in the disaster hit areas and the services to be provided
in other areas to closed user groups and to the general public. The services to be provided will
be a subset of those normally available from a licensee

(b) A catalogue of critical telecommunications elements to be available at times of
emergency. Moreover, the terminal devices connecting to telecommunication networks will
need to be traceable within a reasonable distance of actual location to facilitate the provision of
emergency services.
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(c) Network redundancy requirements taking account of the possibility that a national disaster
may damage the available telecommunications networks themselves.

(d) The processes to be followed in a national disaster to liaise with licensees about the
reconfiguration of their networks and services to provide the specified services and for
returning networks and services to their commercial state. Related internal processes are
for individual licensees to develop
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(e) The processes to be followed for the urgent replacement of critical infrastructure
including obligations on suppliers of such infrastructure.

(f) Audit and testing processes for the Plan.
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
Telecommunications Policy, 2015 - 7.8 Telecommunications and
National Disaster Management:
 7.8.3 With respect to the Plan:
 Federal Government (MoIT) in consultation with PTA will assess the
National and Provincial requirements for critical telecommunications
infrastructure and services. In this respect, relevant GoP departments
and provincial governments will be consulted.
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7.8.4 The PTA, in conjunction with the NDMA and in consultation
with licensees, will develop regulations and licensees will adopt
regulations that apply when a regional or national emergency has
been declared by GoP or a Provincial Government in the legally
required manner to promulgate the Plan.
7.8.5 Having promulgated the necessary regulations and periodically
thereafter, PTA will require licensees to audit and test their
individual national disaster plans and processes.
7.8.6 PTA in conjunction with NDMA may periodically require
licensees to participate in national exercises to test overall
disaster management processes and plans.
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
Mobile Cellular Policy, 2004

6.3 The Licensee will provide a set of reasonable QoS measures against which
the performance of licensee will be measured on a regular basis.
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Risk Management Framework, March 2007
 8.1 Ministries – Ministry of Information Technology

ensure safety of telecommunication infrastructure in hazard-prone areas;

develop alternative technologies to facilitate telecommunication during disaster in affected areas,
in case of the collapse of mainstream communication systems;

coordinate with NDMA and the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) to ensure the
provision of alternative communication technology and services to disaster survivors and
response agencies;

maintain through the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) a pool of telecom equipment
preferably satellite/wireless based for provision and establishment of emergency telecom
network. For procurement of liaison equipment, necessary funding will be arranged by NDMA.

liaison and coordinate with international bodies, NGOs for resources arrangement on urgent
basis during relief operation and disaster mitigation;

focal Ministry for telecom resource management during disaster relief operations;

develop trained manpower working in subordinate organizations like NTC and SCO and could be
called in emergency for restoration purposes;

liaison and coordinate with member administrations of International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) and Tampere Convention for arrangement of assistance in the shape of telecom
equipment and human resources for restoration of telecom services during and after disasters;
 ensure that ITU based standards and practices are
implemented by the operators;
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Risk Reduction Policy, 2012
 3.2.3 Resilient key-infrastructure and life-lines

In the light of competing demands upon limited resources the resilience of critical
infrastructure and key life-lines demands particular attention both at the macro-level
(plans and strategies) as well as at the micro-level of development (projects and
regulations). Key infrastructure and lifelines include those facilities, structures
and services whose disruption or destruction would seriously affect peoples’
lives and livelihoods including those whose functioning is crucial in a post disaster
situation i.e.
 Educational and Health Facilities; Key Government Buildings
 Water Supply and Sanitation, Electricity, Transport and Communication
 Irrigation and Flood Protection
 Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (EWS)

The fact that Pakistan experiences a range of regularly occurring hazards provides
a strong rationale for investing in multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (EWS) that
provide advance warnings to both decision-makers and communities. Effective
EWS depend upon risk knowledge, an effective hazard monitoring and threat
assessment, warning system, dissemination and communication of warning
messages and communities that respond to warnings.
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Terms of Reference for
Composite Risk Assessment of Pakistan, 2007
 An exposure and vulnerability analysis will be an
important part of the mapping for each hazard. This will
include assessment of social, economic, physical and
environmental vulnerabilities. Co-relational analysis will be
produced for the selected variables for the whole country. …
The variables of analysis will include following:
 Critical facilities: Hospitals, clinics, BHUs, telecommunications
facilities, water and electricity networks. Determination of
vulnerabilities of various types of facilities
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Management Plan, 2012
Establish a Multi-hazard Early Warning System
Abbreviations:
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PMD: Pakistan Meteorological Department
NDMA: National Disaster Management Authority
DDMA: District Disaster Management Authority
PDMA: Provincial Disaster Management Authority
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Management Plan, 2012
Establish a National Emergency Response System
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Telecommunication corporations will preferentially secure important
communication among relevant disaster management agencies such as
national and local governments in the time of disaster.
NEOC will promptly collect and organize information on the damage
status of communication systems and smoothly conduct adjustments
to devote available communication systems to important communication
in order to secure important communication lines during an emergency.
Activities on Distributing Appropriate Information to Disaster
Victims
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Management Plan, 2012
 Securing the Means of Communication
 The national government, local governments and the
business enterprises shall, immediately after the
occurrence of a disaster, secure the means of
communication for exchange of disaster related
information.
 At the time of a disaster, telecommunication
companies shall preferentially secure the important
communication lines of NDMA, F/G/S/PDMAs and
DDMAs.
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Management Plan, 2012
Roles & Responsibilities (Geological Hazards and Meteorological Hazards) - Ministry
of Information Technology
 Pre-Disaster Phase
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…
Train a team of technical people within the ministry to provide IT support in disaster situations.
Ensure that private telecommunication service providers develop SOPs to engage in disaster
situations and share those SOPs with NDMA and F/G/S/PDMAs.
Develop guidelines for private sector telecommunication for preparing of contingency plans
for disaster situations.
Document the lessons learnt from the response experiences and incorporate the lessons in future
planning.
….
Emergency Response Phase
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Ensure that IT and telecommunication system functions well during disaster times for effective
emergency response.
Engage private sector IT firms to provide support during disaster.
 Liaise and coordinate with member administrations of the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) and the Tampere Convention for arrangement of assistance in the procurement of
telecom equipment and human resources for restoration of telecom services during and after
disasters.
 Ensure that ITU based standards and practices are implemented by
the operators.
Legal And Regulatory
Requirements
National Disaster Management Plan, 2012
Roles & Responsibilities (Geological Hazards and Meteorological
Hazards) - Mobile Telecommunication Companies
 Pre-Disaster Phase
 Prepare disaster management operation plan and emergency
preparedness plan with regards to the mandate.
 Prepare a mobile telecommunication strategy on emergency response.
 Conduct annual conferences on role of mobile telecommunication in
disaster management.
 Assess the vulnerability of the telecommunication system.
 Develop and install an information system utilizing SMS.

Emergency Response Phase
 Secure important communication among relevant disaster management
agencies.
 Provide disaster information and evacuation calls by utilizing SMS.

Post-Disaster Phase
 Recover telecommunication if needed.
Structure
NETRF
Develop
Plans
Measure and
Audit Plans
Need for NETRF?
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standardization among stakeholders
coordinated and integrated approach
same level of awareness and readiness
increase readiness capacity of stakeholders
Disaster Types
 Nature Originated
 Geological
 Meteorological
 Biological
 Technology Originated
 Hardware
 Software
 Human Originated
 Intentionally
 Unintentionally
Worst Scenario?
Good Intent vs. Framework
Approach
 A car crash; it is upside down near
a sloopy hill
 What will you do?
Leadership Support
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Prioritization
Policy
Roles and Responsibilities
Audit
Improvement
RISK MANAGEMENT
Reduce
Risk
Risk
analysis
Process
Risk
Accept
Risk
Avoid
Risk
Transfer
Risk
Remaining
Risk
NETRF Principles
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Comprehensive: take into consideration all types of hazards with all
stakeholders
Concise: prepare all related works as concise as possible
Coordinated: synchronize all the works with all relevant stakeholders
Flexible: to have a backup and default plan for all related strategies
Integrated: ensure that interested party analysis implemented for all
stakeholders
Proficient: promote knowledge-based approach based on standards,
best practices, experience, technological advances, training, ethics
and continuous improvement.
Progressive: what will be done next should be planned beforehand in
all related works
Risk-driven: sound risk management implemented in all related works
Simple: design all related works as simple as possible
Ubiquitous: design all related works such that all related resources
are present
NETRF Scope
 Emergency telecommunication scope is the key emergency
telecommunication product and services which are:
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call,
messaging,
internet and
societal security services

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emergency responders’ emergency telecommunication needs
emergency telecommunication public services like ambulance, fire, police…
Providing LBS data for the affected area
Locaiton based information dissemination without congestiong the network within
desired time
where they are used in order to achieve the vision.
 The topics non-related to emergency and emergency
telecommunication are kept out of scope in NETRF.
NETRF Objective

Define and prioritize critical locations:
 Every stakeholder should define its critical location and inform Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in compliance with the Pakistan
National Disaster Management Plan

Provide telecommunication resiliency in critical locations
 Critical locations should be resilient to disasters for continuous
telecommunication

NETRF’s Recovery Time Objective (RTO):
 RTO of Call in critical locations:

12 hours within NETRF’s MAL and RPO
 RTO of Messaging in critical locations:

24 hours within NETRF’s MAL and RPO
 RTO of Internet in critical locations:

24 hours within NETRF’s MAL and RPO
 RTO of Societal Security Services is:

8 hours within NETRF’s MAL and RPO
NETRF Objective

NETRF’s Minimum Acceptable Level (MAL):
 MAL of Call

Providing at least national and international basic (e.g: 2G) call service with
acceptable decreased quality (e.g: half rate)
 MAL of Messaging

Providing SMS (text) messaging service with increased (2 folds of average of special
days messaging latency) latency
 MAL of Internet

Providing Internet service with decreased (1/2 folds of average of special days
internet speed) speed
 MAL of Societal security services
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Providing emergency responders’ emergency telecommunication needs after the
emergency location information is provided to responsible telecommunication
operators
Providing the continuity of emergency telecommunication public services like
ambulance, fire, police…
Provide approximate location information of the MSISDN who are in emergency
Provide the list of MSISDNs with certain probability who are around the affected area
NETRF Objective
 RPO of Call is:
 If the call reached the network but cannot be established to the called user
due to operator related issues. The called user should be informed about the
call details when the systems are available and network is not congested.
 RPO of Messaging is:
 If the message (SMS/Text) could not be delivered to the destination user
within its MAL for any reason. It should not be deleted forever. It should be
delivered to destination when the systems are available and network is not
congested.
 RPO of Internet is:
 Any established internet connection from the disaster affected area should
not be terminated intentionally by the telecommunication operators
 RPO of Societal Security Services is:
 Emergency responders’ emergency telecommunication needs should be
clearly stated with location information, approximate capacity need
 The (Time, Subscriber, Cell, Location) connection pair data from the disaster
affected area should be available when needed by the authorities
– If emergency number is called, the approximate location data could be available to
the emergency authority
NETRF STRATEGY
 1. People Strategy
The stakeholders shall identify the
critical employees. Backup them
and provide them alternative means
of communication equipment.
NETRF STRATEGY
 2. Location Strategy
 The operators shall identify critical locations
which provide emergency telecommunication
key product and services.
 The critical locations must be resilient to
emergency telecommunication disruptions
caused by intentional and unintentional human
acts, natural disasters, and technical failures.
 The stakeholders shall identify fixed and mobile
alternative locations where the critical
employees and business continuity teams
should work during/after a disaster and
emergency.
NETRF STRATEGY
 3. Information Strategy
The stakeholders shall identify the
critical information that is needed for
emergency communication
The critical information must be
available to critical people anywhere
and anytime without any technology
limitation
NETRF STRATEGY
 4. Process Strategy
 The stakeholders shall define internal
emergency telecommunication policies
and procedures aligned with NETRF
 The stakeholders shall dedicate
accountable for implementing, executing,
improving and auditing internal NETRF
aligned processes and procedures
 The stakeholders shall prepare awareness,
training and exercising programs for
emergency telecommunication processes
NETRF STRATEGY
 5. Technology Strategy
 The stakeholders shall identify the critical
technologies/resources which provide
emergency telecommunication key product and
services
 The stakeholders shall plan the actions to be
completed within the NETRF recovery time
objective (RTO), with recovery point objective
(RPO) and Minimum Acceptable Level (MAL)
 The stakeholders should utilize resiliency for
their critical technologies in the scope of
emergency telecommunication
NETRF STRATEGY
 6. Supplier Strategy
 The stakeholders shall define critical suppliers
which provides NETRF key product and services
 The stakeholders shall identify alternative
suppliers or guarantee the service,
technology, resource and product supply from
the supplier within the NETRF recovery time
objective (RTO) with recovery point objective
(RPO) and Minimum Acceptable Level (MAL)
 The stakeholders shall take necessary actions to
make the alignment of supplier processes to
NETRF
NETRF STRATEGY
 7. Transportation Strategy
The stakeholders shall plan alternative
means of transportations of critical
technology, people and energy to critical
locations and emergency responders’
locations
The stakeholders should make or
initiate the necessary transportation
arrangements and protocol
beforehand with the other stakeholders
NETRF STRATEGY
 8. Energy Strategy
The stakeholders shall plan the
continuity of energy of critical
technology, people and locations
NETRF STRATEGY
 9. Communication Strategy
The stakeholders shall prepare
internal and external
communication plans for correct
and accurate information
distribution
NETRF STRATEGY
 10. Coordination and Integration
Strategy
 The stakeholders shall identify

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whom they depend on
who depends on them
who should give information to them
Who will give information to them
 The stakeholders shall identify
 The resources they need from other stakeholders
 The resources which the other stakeholders need
NETRF STRATEGY
 11. Planning Strategy
The triggering criteria of the plans
should be defined clearly
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Who will trigger
Whom will be triggered
When will it be triggered
How it will be triggered
The plans should include other
strategies
Actions in the plans should be concise
and time bound
NETRF STRATEGY
 12. Regulation Strategy
The authority shall define a
verification and validation
procedure to guarantee that NETRF
are in place, aligned and executed by
the stakeholders
Assumptions
 A disaster could be source of secondary disasters
 A disaster affected area could encounter worse
scenarios in the future
 Assigned teams could need shelter, heat, food and
beverages
 Billing and charging systems could be impacted and
unavailable
 Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats
could occur which result in quarantine
 Communications or telecommunication systems could
be damaged
Assumptions
 Critical information could not be gathered on time
 Critical locations, infrastructures and means of
transportation could be damaged
 Critical people or their families could not be reached
during a disaster and emergency
 Critical processes could not be implemented in a
disaster affected area
 Critical technology and dependent technologies could
not be available for an uncertain amount of time
 Cultural and historical heritage could be affected
 Daily telecommunication systems could be down
Assumptions
 Dams, power plants, fuel storage facilities and buildings
could be completely destroyed
 Disaster and emergency could happen in another
country
 Disaster could occur at night or morning, during office
hours or on holidays, in one of the winter, summer or
monsoon conditions
 Disaster happened at neighboring countries could have
affect adversely
 Energy may not be available for an uncertain duration
and energy needs could be higher than expected
 Evacuation and placement could be need
Assumptions
 Food, drink, clothing, shelter and other emergency
assistance could not be provided within 15 days in times
of a disaster and emergency
 Food, pharmaceutical, heating, shelter and basic need
problems may occur after a disaster
 Foreign nationals, tourists or the people who do not
understand the local languages could exist in the
disaster affected area
 If the disaster large enough to cover more than one
province of the domain, support may be needed from
distant provinces which are not affected from the
disaster
Assumptions
 Implementation of plans could be significantly different
from the expected mode of operation
 Location based services could be damaged
 Money, cash transfer or exchange problems could arise
 Multiple disasters (including cyber security) could
happen at the same time which you should try to cope
with
 New organizations, international organizations or
unfamiliar organizations may demand emergency
communication
Assumptions
 Shelter needs of the critical peoples and their families
could arise right in the middle of the recovery actions
 Slowly evolving natural disaster like global warming,
climate change and drought could create results
previously never happened
 Social disorder could arise in the disaster affected area
 Strong aftershocks, twin earthquakes or further
earthquakes could even result in increased levels of
building and telecommunication damage
 Telecommunication backbone could be damaged at
multiple locations at the same time
 Telecommunication during a disaster could get
congested and coverage could get adversely affected
Assumptions
 Telecommunication subscribers may not have enough
credits for communication during and right after a disaster
 The stakeholders could effectively implemented the NETRF
strategies
 There could be export and import problems of the technical
and non-technical resources in the national or international
customs
 There could be people under the rubble who tries to
communicate after a disaster
 Transportation demand could increase in the affected or
non-affected area
 Uncontrolled population movements could occur
 User telecommunication behaviors could change during and
after a disaster
Points to be Considered
 The stakeholders shall prepare their plans aligned with
the NETRF
 The stakeholders execute their plans, measure the
effectetiveness and improve their plans
Exercise Types
 Table-top
 Simulation
 Exercise
Informed
Half-informed
Pre-informed
BEST PRACTICES
Emergency Telecommunicaiton
Mobile Application
Work Offline
Emergency Notification
Disaster Notification
Announce a Disaster
Inform your loved ones
Offline Library
Mobile Base Stations Type
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Infrastrure Based
Satellite Based
Alternative Energy
Fiber
Off-Road Trucks
In-city vehicles
Carriable
On Wheels
Wireless Emergency Alerts
 Alerts issued by the President of the United States.
 Alerts involving imminent threats to safety of life
 AMBER Alerts (Child Abduction)
Disaster and Emergency
Radio
 Citizens will be available uninterrupted in the
event of a possible disaster by listening to the
latest information from the Disaster and
Emergency Radio AM/FM channel frequencies.
Users in Affected Area
Call Prioritization
 Government Emergency Telecommunications
Service (GETS)
 Fixed
 Wireless Priority Service (WPS)
 Mobile
 Emergency Number Prioritization
 from affected area
Case Studies: Japan, 2011
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Approximately 1.2 million fixed telephone lines and 15,000 mobile
base stations were unusable
Following the Great East Japan Earthquake, communications
congestion (overload in telecommunications traffic) and
communications blackouts occurred over a wide area.
Howto decrease the congestion:
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Restrict voice and packet traffic
Emergency message dial
Emergency broadband message dial
Timeline
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Start: Jan. 2016
Field Visit: Feb. 2016
Consultations: Mar. 2016
Feedback: Apr. 2016
Refinement: May. 2016
Finalize: Jun. 2016
Thank you