Communications Sector

Sector Chiefs:

VACANT

Sector Overview

The Communications Sector is a critical and indispensable component of the US economy. It forms the core foundation of operations for businesses, government agencies, and public safety institutions. In accordance with the Presidential Policy Directive 21, the Communications Sector is deemed critical as it acts as an enabler across all vital infrastructure sectors.

The past quarter-century has seen the sector transform from being primarily a voice services provider into an industry that is competitive, diverse, and interconnected. The sector's services are delivered using various transmission systems like terrestrial, satellite, and wireless systems. The delivery of these services has become interconnected; companies operating within the sector depend on each other to deliver, transfer, and connect their traffic. They routinely share facilities and technology to guarantee mutual compatibility.

As private entities own and operate most of the communications infrastructure, they bear the primary responsibility for protecting the sector's infrastructure and assets. In partnership with the federal government, they continuously predict, anticipate, and respond to outages in the sector. They understand how such outages may affect the national leadership's ability to communicate in crisis times, influence other sectors' operation, and impact recovery and response efforts.

The Communications Sector is intricately linked with various other sectors. These include:

  • The Energy Sector: It supplies the necessary power to operate critical communications facilities like cellular towers, central offices, etc.
  • The Information Technology Sector: It provides crucial control systems and services along with physical architecture and internet infrastructure.
  • The Financial Services Sector: It heavily relies on communications for transaction transmission and conducting financial markets operations.
  • The Emergency Services Sector: They rely on communications for resource direction, response coordination, public warning alerts, and receiving emergency 911 calls.