FCC Preparing NOI on Broadband-for-911, FCC’s Manner Says
The FCC is preparing a notice of inquiry asking how to integrate broadband alerts into next-generation 911, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Deputy Chief Jennifer Manner said Wednesday. The inquiry will be broadly worded -- focusing on such questions as what should be covered and how to coordinate with other agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- and will come out in the late spring or early summer, Manner said. She spoke on a panel about the National Broadband Plan’s first anniversary.
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The FCC generally would like to make it easier to send text messages, video and pictures to 911 call centers, but there is also a danger of over-burdening the system, Manner said. Suppose a child sees a rabbit run over -- should the video be sent to a cash-strapped 911 center that is struggling to pay its technology bills? “We must manage the data,” Manner said.
It’s early in the process, but rural carriers are “noting” that the implementation costs of any 911-broadband plan may be so high that emergency call centers have to close and consolidate, National Telecommunications Cooperative Association spokeswoman Caitlin Colligan told us. “We have concerns and questions regarding the effectiveness of regional or statewide PSAPs for the local community,” she said. “There are also some potential technology issues, including how MMS/SMS translations will work."
Rural consolidation is probably a minimal threat, said John McHugh, technical director for the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies. But the expense of having diverse broadband routes and back-ups might well be a concern, he said. There’s also a serious capacity deficit in rural areas. “We have to face reality. There’s still a lot of PSAPs out there that can’t do anything more than basic 911 service,” McHugh said of public safety answering points. Any next-generation 911 program will have to have robust wireless and wireline broadband speeds to be successful, McHugh said. “The big question would be, whose going to pay for it?"
Wireless carriers said in comments at the FCC that the record makes clear that it will be technically difficult for them to change their networks so text messages can be directly sent to public safety answering points. The comments were part of the commission’s ongoing inquiry on next generation 911 deployment, in docket 10-255. Chairman Julius Genachowski made clear again this week that making it possible for the public to text 911 is a top FCC priority (CD March 15 p1).
"SMS is fundamentally unsuited for emergency communications,” T-Mobile said. “Not only are there basic technological issues, but implementing SMS-to-911 also raises issues with network security, abuse prevention, and the potential of SMS to completely overwhelm the 911 response system.” Allowing the public to text 911 call centers would require “an entirely new system that involves wireless carriers, technology companies, and PSAPs, all of whom would be required to work together and each of whose efforts would be dependent upon the others to create a workable system,” T-Mobile said.
Verizon and Verizon Wireless said the FCC shouldn’t force an interim fix for SMS, but should focus on a “uniform approach” for the delivery of non-voice emergency messages to PSAPs. “Several commenters demonstrate that the network and signaling configurations that service providers use for SMS messages are neither designed nor appropriate for emergency communications,” Verizon said. “PSAPs’, consumers’ and service providers’ interests all would be better served by focusing on incorporating [real time text] and more advanced messaging technologies into IP-based platforms and into the wireless industry’s deployment of 4G LTE technology."
CTIA warned in its replies that there remains a “lack of consensus on crucial points even within the public safety community itself as to the appropriate expectations for the future system.” Ongoing concern about liability issues could hamper a rollout, CTIA said. “Service providers, vendors, public safety, and related entities will require clear and robust liability protection to ensure that their participation in the NG911 ecosystem will not be inhibited by the inherent risks of the desired NG911 capabilities.” Comments filed in the proceeding so far also make clear that carriers face “significant challenges” adapting text messaging for emergency communications, the group said. “The record also highlighted the importance of funding issues to any comprehensive examination of the NG911 transition,” CTIA said. “Numerous respondents acknowledged the crucial role of identifying an appropriate and responsible funding model to support the development, deployment, and maintenance of NG911."
The National Emergency Number Association said it also favors a more integrated approach to building next-generation networks, based on a single multimedia interface at the boundary between an origination/access network and the 911 system. “Although incremental upgrades have some advantages, we believe that a single-step upgrade will generally provide the greatest set of capabilities in the shortest time and for the least cost,” NENA said.