re cable TV is not available because low population density makes it unprofitable to lay cabling directly to homes. Retransmission Agreements between Pay-TV and Local Broadcasters All cable TV subscribers, including those with slimmed down, skinny bundles, receive national broadcast programming on their cable TV service. Cable TV, satellite, and traditional telephone companies pay fees to local broadcasters for the right to carry local broadcasts. These agreements are referred to as retransmission agreements. The fees are mandated in the United States 1992 Cable www.TechnicalPDF.com TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN NATIONAL EMERGENCIES During natural disasters, extreme weather conditions, and even armed attacks, the government, military, first responders (hospitals, police, 911 call centers, and firefighters), and ordinary citizens depend on communications to coordinate rescue operations and to stay in contact with family members. Even in the absence of a disaster, the ability to call police, fire departments, and hospitals is critical SO that people can report emergencies and assistance can be dispatched as quickly as possible. For these reasons, governments worldwide regulate network reliability and sustainability. Equipment and network sustainability refers to the capability to operate continuously during adverse conditions. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires outage reports from the following providers: Wireline Wireless Paging Cable TV Satellite TV Signaling systems They must further report disruptions that affect the following: E-911 facilities affecting 900,000 user-minutes or 30-minute outages in tandem 911 offices connected to long distance networks and other 911 facilities Major military installations Key government facilities Nuclear power plants Certain airports In addition, fiber-optic outages of lines that carry traffic between backbone network switches must be www.TechnicalPDF.com reported. Reports on outages are reviewed quarterly by the Network Reliability Ste