Top officials with the National Emergency Number Assn. met separately last week with all 5 FCC commissioners, the group said in a filing with the Commission. Topics included the pace of E-911 rollout, difficulties resolving disputes in the states over surcharging of prepaid wireless service, and “what NENA believes to be the slow pace of the states in legislating requirements for locating 911 callers whose communications are processed through PBXs and other multi- line telephone systems,” NENA said.

The Dept. of Transportation hopes this year to run initial field tests of its Next Generation 911 project but needs a location, Laurie Flaherty, a leader of the program for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), said Tues. Key decisions on the program will be made the next few months, Flaherty told the National Emergency Number Assn.’s annual D.C. meeting.

NENA said its 3 highest priorities for this Congress are federal funding for 911 and emergency communications, getting E-911 solutions for all technologies, and homeland security provisions broad enough to encompass emergency response and 911. NENA endorses a 911 bill introduced by Sens. Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Stevens (R-Alaska).

Congress, DHS and the FCC must ensure that first responders get the equipment, money and administrative support they need to build a strong interoperable emergency communications system, 2 former govt. officials said Wed. The Deficit Reduction Act, which spelled out rules for the DTV transition, ordered 24 MHz of spectrum auctioned for public safety -- “prime” frequency that will meet 21st Century communications needs, said a white paper by Larry Irving and Michael Gallagher, former Commerce Dept. communications officials under President Clinton and the current President Bush, respectively.

“Broadband should be like water in a restaurant, something that comes with your meal,” said Kathleen Wallman, consultant with M2Z Wireless Networks and a former FCC bureau chief. She said modest-speed (300K), ad-supported Internet access should be included with basic telephone service: “Basic broadband connectivity should be free. If you want more than that, it would be available to purchase.” Wallman, a panel speaker at the NARUC annual meeting, said the U.S. lags far behind other nations in broadband penetration and service speed. “We need a different strategy for broadband deployment” for both wireline and wireless service. With wireless, she proposed the FCC grant exclusive 15-year leases of broadband spectrum and get a percentage of the annual revenue. E Copernicus consultant Chris McLean said ubiquitous broadband is “a national security imperative.” He said security demands multiple redundant broadband networks using both landline and wireless technologies. He said achieving universal broadband means policymakers and industry must take some risks: “There’s no single ’silver bullet’ solution for broadband development. It’s a layer cake of policy.” He said successful broadband policy should rely on market forces as much as possible, consider innovative approaches like spectrum leasing, support broadband with subsidies where necessary, create demand, and be flexible. He said that when govt. decides something is a genuine national priority, it generally gets done. He cited rural electrification and the national schools & libraries telecom program as examples. “We should be moving the broadband ball forward, getting it done, because broadband is important.” Consultant Bob Rowe, a former Mont. regulator, said broadband is changing the cost and revenue picture for providers. “Networks and costs don’t go away -- they change,” he said. For instance, he said, the rise of broadband is shifting costs from switching and general network operations to construction of new outside plant and to acquisition of content. He said that as broadband grows, providers will see less revenue from traditional narrowband phone services and more from selling new services made possible by broadband. But that demand for new services will stress the infrastructure and demand further investment. He said providers may need to consider new revenue models such as selling advertising.

The FCC Tues. opened its Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau, with veteran FCC official Ken Moran as acting bureau chief. Ordered in March, the bureau has a staff of 90, most already reassigned from elsewhere at the FCC -- making it the agency’s smallest bureau, comparable in size to the FCC Office of Engineering & Technology.

Public safety officials welcomed the VoIP E-911 legislation (S-1063) that the Senate approved Thurs. (CD Sept 14 p1) as part of the port security bill. The Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International said it was pleased that the Senate struck out provisions which would have given companies waivers from complying with E-911 requirements and delayed enforcement. APCO said it plans to work to ensure the provisions aren’t added back in during conference on the bill, according to a statement by Pres. Wanda McCarley. NENA also welcomed the legislation: “Ensuring that 911 service is available and effective for all Americans today and in the future as technology advances is a top priority for NENA,” said Pres. Bill Munn.

AT&T accused CTIA of trying to gain special privileges for wireless carriers, in its comments on a rulemaking released with the final report of the Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks. AT&T also took issue with NENA’s contention that all 911 system service providers should be required to analyze the redundancy of their 911 networks and tell the FCC about possible gaps.

NENA urged the FCC to seek comment on Cyren Call’s proposal to dedicate 30 MHz of contiguous 700 MHz spectrum to public safety for wireless broadband. NENA also asked Congress to study the proposal. The NENA resolution follows an Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials de facto endorsement of the Cyren Call plan (CD Aug 11 p7). Cyren Call founder Morgan O'Brien has made gaining these public safety groups’ support a priority. Carriers want the spectrum auctioned and have opposed the Cyren Call proposal. Quick action is critical, NENA said in a statement. “NENA appreciates the innovative approach and the significant potential benefits to the public safety community of this plan,” NENA said: “We also appreciate the timing of this proposal. Our nation has a one-time opportunity to take advantage of the clearance of a nationwide block of 30 MHz of frequencies in the 700 MHz spectrum band… We will lose a tremendous opportunity to improve public safety through improved interoperability if a debate is not initiated to license this spectrum to public safety for a nationwide broadband network before this spectrum is auctioned off and lost forever.”

Only about half of U.S. counties have E-911 Phase II capability, NENA said in documents filed this week at the FCC. Nationwide, 74.5% of counties have Phase I capability. NENA, which did a survey using a Dept. of Transportation grant, said it would cost $335 million to extend Phase II to all areas.