NENA backed the proposed merger between Sprint and Nextel, saying “the capabilities of each company to implement and improve 911 services will be strengthened by their merger.” NENA is “pleased” by the companies’ continued progress on E-911, it told the FCC Wed. “Both Sprint and Nextel have adhered to their existing compliance obligations under the FCC’s rules, and continue to demonstrate their commitment to making E911 services available to their customers throughout the nation,” NENA said. Sprint and Nextel reported progress in deploying E- 911 services in their recent quarterly reports but Nextel said it may not be able to meet the Dec. 31 deadline for 95% of its handsets to be location-enabled. Sprint said it installed the network systems to support Phase II service nationwide almost 3 years ago, but still couldn’t deploy Phase I or Phase II E-911 services because of a lack of LEC and PSAP readiness.

FCC Chmn. Martin said Tues. he’s eyeing “the May time frame” for possible FCC adoption of a rule requiring VoIP providers to offer customers emergency 911 dialing. Speaking before the House Appropriations subcommittee, Martin said he was accelerating from June to May a staff deadline for proposed regulations making VoIP compliant with E-911 service (CD April 27 p1). After the hearing, he told reporters he hoped to have the staff proposal ready to offer to other commissioners in time for them to vote on it in May. It’s possible that vote could occur at the May 19 open agenda meeting, although that would require a 3-week lead time under Commission rules, he said. VoIP providers offer some E-911 capability although it often is limited to routing customers’ calls to non- emergency “administrative” lines in call centers. By contrast, wireline callers are routed directly to the emergency response officials where screens show callers’ phone numbers and locations. The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) has been working to solve the problem, which is heightened by VoIP phones’ non-geographic numbers and mobility. Vonage on its own has been seeking access to Bell networks to test a solution based on what wireless carriers use and is on the verge of a major test with Verizon. SBC, which had been resisting Vonage’s test for technical reasons, told the company in an April 18 letter it was willing to try to reach a commercial agreement. SBC said it would “do a technical, economic and regulatory assessment” of Vonage’s proposal for access to the selective routers used for emergency calls. In the letter, SBC Exec. Vp Christopher Rice disagreed with Vonage’s view that its access plan didn’t require any new functions. “It is apparent that while the requested functionality has some similarities to what is available to wireless carriers, it is not the same,” SBC said. SBC also asked Vonage to outline the functions it seeks that can’t be obtained by going through CLECs for access. SBC also warned that Vonage will have to get agreements from all of the public safety entities it accesses before SBC can make an interface available for delivery of the 911 calls.

The FCC Wireline Bureau has been meeting with Bell company representatives this week to discuss how VoIP customers get E-911 service. FCC officials wouldn’t comment on the meetings, initiated by the agency amid a flurry of ex parte filings from industry parties. Bell representatives called the talks strictly informational, but heightened FCC interest stirred speculation the FCC might be poised to act on E-911 issues before completing the broader IP Enabled Services proceeding.

AOL joined the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) to work on standards for emergency calling over VoIP. AOL said Thurs. it will be a member of NENA’s Operational/Educational Roundtable on emergency service standards and policies. AOL also will work on a NENA public education campaign about access to E-911 services. AOL officially unveiled VoIP service Thurs. in 40 markets.

After months of study, a Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) subcommittee said it had consensus on enhanced 911 (E911) wireless location accuracy requirements. With the Assn. for Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International dissenting, the 49-member group urged that accuracy testing be conducted on a statewide basis. The group presented its ideas to NRIC at its meeting in Washington Tues.

Vonage and SBC are sparring over SBC’s refusal to join with Vonage to test a VoIP-based 911 system. Vonage asked the Bell companies to help test its 911 solution (CD Feb 28 p10). But SBC said in a March 25 letter it couldn’t participate in a “separate, proprietary trial” because Vonage was only one of several firms offering or planing to offer VoIP service.

Several public safety entities have launched an initiative to improve information sharing and interoperability among public safety agencies. The National Emergency Alerting & Response Systems (NEARS) initiative needs $18 million in funding to create standards, technology and a directory giving large and small agencies information about emergencies. Partners of the NEARS program include the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA), the Fraternal Order of Police, the Assn. of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the ComCare Alliance, which advocates for communications technology for health and safety agencies. Officials at the launch said they would try to find federal funding for NEARS, probably cobbling together a funding package from different agencies or varying grant programs within an agency. The program’s centerpiece is ComCare’s Emergency Provider Access Directory (EPAD), which will be a comprehensive contact list for safety agencies. Officials ran a demonstration of EPAD on Tues. that included 24 states and several federal agencies. Officials said the NEARS system should help resolves some conflicts among safety agencies that have hobbled efforts at increased interoperability. “The project is not intended to resolve all local turf battles,” said Barry Luke, Orange County (Fla.) deputy chief-fire communication. “Those walls are eroding slowly, partly because of the need for information sharing.” Luke said 5% of agencies always will be reluctant to share information. Officials said the technology developed to support NEARS can be built atop legacy systems. Officials said once funding is in hand the system would take 12 months to become operational.

The FCC should set national standards to make sure the location of E-911 calls can be identified when callers are on multiline telephone systems (MLTS), several organizations told the FCC in comments filed Mon. Although Verizon disagreed and said a national standard would be too restrictive, many said the FCC shouldn’t wait any longer for states to act.

The next FCC chair should appoint one commissioner to lead the agency’s homeland security efforts, FCC Comr. Copps recommended in a speech Mon. at a National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) forum. The FCC has expertise that would be valuable to homeland security planning but “needs a higher profile,” Copps said. There’s precedent for targeting one commissioner for a particular task, he said. For example, ex- Chmn. William Kennard named then-Comr. Powell to lead Y2K efforts in 1999, Copps said. It’s been 3-1/2 years since the terrorist attacks on N.Y. and Washington, and little has been done to solve communications problems that occurred at the time and were cited in a report last year, he said. Interoperability problems among emergency workers, mobile phones that didn’t work inside damaged buildings and other problems haven’t been fully fixed, Copps said. The FCC has allocated more spectrum to public safety and is tackling a number of homeland security issues such as CALEA but the proceedings remain “a work in progress,” he told NENA. There has to be a plan with “deliverables and timetables,” he said, adding that there needs to be “clarity on where the FCC fits in.” While no one agency can solve preparedness problems, the FCC could play more of a role in coordinating efforts by various entities, Copps said. Copps also recommended the FCC create an office to “focus exclusively” on helping public safety organizations share ideas, prepare plans so govt entities and public safety groups don’t have to “reinvent the wheel” every time they undertake a new initiative. He said the FCC should be working more “proactively with Congress” to help make sure the digital TV spectrum transition is done right “by providing Congress with the good date it needs to make an informed decision.” Copps said the FCC should be able to tell Congress “how much spectrum public safety requires,” but he said he has “never seen a survey of what spectrum public safety is using, what frequencies are working and which are limited by their physical characteristics and interference.”

Lack of funding and lack of awareness are the major obstacles to implementing the telecom service priority (TSP) program by the public safety, speakers said Thurs. during a TSP summit hosted by the FCC. The program has been in operation since 1988, when the FCC authorized telecom service providers to provide priority restoration of pre-designed circuits in times of emergency. But the panelists said that so far it has attracted less than 10% of PSAPs. For example, they said, there were still at least 20 states which local emergency centers had no TSP coverage. Okla. Corp. Commission Comr. Denise Bode estimated it would take $7.2 million to cover the uncovered circuits.