Sector Overview

The Communications Sector is an integral component of the U.S. economy underlying the operations of all businesses, public safety organizations, and government. Over 25 years, the sector has evolved from predominantly a provider of voice services into a diverse, competitive, and interconnected industry using terrestrial, satellite, and wireless transmission systems. The transmission of these services has become interconnected; satellite, wireless, and wireline providers depend on each other to carry and terminate their traffic and companies routinely share facilities and technology to ensure interoperability.

The private sector, as owners and operators of the majority of communications infrastructure, is the primary entity responsible for protecting sector infrastructure and assets. Working with the federal government, the private sector is able to predict, anticipate, and respond to sector outages and understand how they might affect the ability of the national leadership to communicate during times of crisis, impact the operations of other sectors, and affect response and recovery efforts.

The Communications Sector is closely linked to other sectors, including:

• The Energy Sector provides power to run cellular towers, central offices, and other critical communications facilities;
• The Information Technology Sector provides critical control systems and services, physical architecture and Internet infrastructure;
• The Banking and Finance Sector relies on telecommunications for the transmission of transactions and operations of financial markets;
• The Emergency Services Sector depends on telecommunications for directing resources, coordinating response, alerting the public, and receiving emergency 911 calls; and
• The Postal and Shipping Sector uses telecommunications for its control systems, tracking shipments, and regular communications requirements.

Read the Communications Sector Snapshot (PDF, 2 pages - 973 KB)

For More Information, contact NIPP@DHS.GOV