Recovery Plan for the Communications and Information Technology Sector After Hurricanes Irma and Maria Laying the Foundation for the Digital Transformation of Puerto Rico AMADO CORDOVA, RYAN CONSAUL, KARLYN D. STANLEY, AJAY K. KOCHHAR, RICARDO SANCHEZ, DAVID METZ HS AC HOMELAND SECURITY OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS CENTER An FFRDC operated by the RAND Corporation under contract with DHS rr2599_cover_v7.indd 1,3 8/20/20 1:52 PM Published in 2020 Preface On August 8, 2018, the government of Puerto Rico submitted its economic and disaster recovery plan to Congress, as required by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. Under contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC) provided substantial support in developing the plan by soliciting and integrating inputs from a wide variety of stakeholders, contributing analysis where needed, and assisting in drafting the plan. The plan included an overview of damage and needs, courses of action (COAs) to meet those needs, costs of the COAs, and potential funding mechanisms for those costs. To support federal agencies evaluating and funding recovery actions, HSOAC is releasing this detailed volume for the communications and information technology sector. The analysis in this report was performed during the time period of February 2018 to July 2018. The purpose of this document is to provide decisionmakers greater detail on the conditions in Puerto Rico prior to the 2017 hurricane season, damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, COAs that were identified to help the sector (and, more broadly, Puerto Rico) recover in a resilient manner, potential funding mechanisms, and considerations for implementers as they move forward. This document will likely be of interest to other stakeholders funding or implementing recovery activities in Puerto Rico, including commonwealth and municipal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector.1 Furthermore, this body of material contributes to the larger literature about disaster recovery and resilience and may be of interest to other communities planning for or recovering from similar disasters. This research was sponsored by FEMA and conducted within the Strategy, Policy, and Operations Program of the HSOAC federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). HSOAC is releasing similarly detailed research volumes for other sectors. More information about HSOAC’s contribution to planning for recovery in Puerto Rico, along with links to other reports being published as part of this series, can be found at www.rand.org/hsoac/puerto-rico -recovery. About the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Section 305 of Public Law 107-296, as codified at 6 U.S.C. § 185), authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Under 1 Puerto Rico, as an unincorporated territory of the United States, has a commonwealth government that deals with territory-wide issues. The roles of the commonwealth government are similar to, but not identical to, the roles of a state government. iii Secretary for Science and Technology, to establish one or more FFRDCs to provide independent analysis of homeland security issues. The RAND Corporation operates the HSOAC as an FFRDC for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under contract HSHQDC-16-D- 00007. The HSOAC FFRDC provides the government with independent and objective analyses and advice in core areas important to the department in support of policy development, decisionmaking, alternative approaches, and new ideas on issues of significance. The HSOAC FFRDC also works with and supports other federal, state, local, tribal, and public- and private- sector organizations that make up the homeland security enterprise. The HSOAC FFRDC’s research is undertaken by mutual consent with DHS and is organized as a set of discrete tasks. This report presents the results of research and analysis conducted under Task Order 70FBR218F00000032, “Puerto Rico Economic and Disaster Recovery Plan: Integration and Analytic Support.” The results presented in this report do not necessarily reflect official DHS opinion or policy. For more information on HSOAC, see www.rand.org/hsoac. For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2599. iv Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................................ iii Figures.......................................................................................................................................... viii Tables ............................................................................................................................................. ix Summary ......................................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ xxi Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. xxiii 1. Introduction: The Communications/IT Sector in Puerto Rico .................................................... 1 Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Brief History of Communications/IT in Puerto Rico .................................................................. 1 Key Communications/IT Assets ................................................................................................. 2 Functions of Communications/IT ............................................................................................... 9 Prestorm Conditions and Challenges ........................................................................................ 12 Structure and Governance of Communications/IT ................................................................... 15 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 18 2. Damage and Needs Assessment ................................................................................................ 19 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 19 Damage Assessment Methodology ........................................................................................... 19 Damage Caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria ....................................................................... 21 Metrics Definitions ................................................................................................................... 23 Posthurricane Response ............................................................................................................ 31 Remaining Needs for the Communications/IT Sector .............................................................. 38 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 42 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 42 Top-Down Path ......................................................................................................................... 42 Bottom-Up Path ........................................................................................................................ 45 4. Resilient Public Telecommunications for Emergency Services and Continuity of Government ................................................................................................................................................. 53 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 53 Emergency Centers ................................................................................................................... 53 Ensuring Resilient Power for Public Safety Communications and Essential Government Operations ........................................................................................................................... 57 Communications Systems to Service Puerto Rico Communities ............................................. 59 Auxiliary Communications—Volunteer Radio Groups and Organizations ......................... 59 Rural Area Network Task Force ........................................................................................... 60 v Additional Methods to Enable Emergency Communications and Functions in the Aftermath of a Disaster ............................................................................................................................. 62 The Future Public Telecommunications Network of Puerto Rico ............................................ 66 Human Capital for the Public Telecommunications Infrastructure of Puerto Rico .................. 69 5. Partnering with the Private Sector for a Robust Telecommunications Infrastructure and Broadband Internet Deployment ............................................................................................. 71 Overview ..................................................................................................................................