VoIP provider Vonage said it’s now able to provide R.I. subscribers with E-911 location service, a step one FCC official said was “a terribly exciting development for public safety.” However, Vonage CEO Jeffrey Citron said R.I. was a unique case, noting that both the regulatory and technical structure of the 911 system will make it challenging to provide E-911 to other districts. Because R.I. owns the selective router for 911 and has only one public safety answering point (PSAP) for the entire state, there were fewer complications to bring E-911 online, Citron said Thurs. Since most states have numerous PSAPs and most 911 selective routers are controlled by ILECs, achieving access to the 911 system is difficult. Citron said each state could change rules on accessing the 911 system, but having to appeal to each state would be tedious and could produce inconsistent results, Citron said. “We need a national plan,” said Citron, who said the FCC could establish the access rules that are needed. Vonage utilizes services from Intrado, a leading emergency communications provider, to help R.I. determine a caller’s location. The system relies on Vonage subscribers to supply home location information; the system doesn’t determine location based on where the VoIP call originated. Mary Boyd, Intrado vp-govt. affairs, said until a national policy is developed, each state would have to “step up one at a time.” Meanwhile, the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said it would host a “next generation E-911 forum” to further examine and develop E- 911 service. The forum will include “all 911 stakeholders” and will be held in Washington Nov. 17. The forum will include a technical roundtable, a policy roundtable and an operational/educational roundtable.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said Mon. that Sen. Sununu (R-N.H.) had issued a hold on S-1250, E- 911 funding legislation sponsored by Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.) Last week, Senate sources said Sununu placed the hold because he thought the bill allocated too much money. Sununu has in the past said there were several federal programs from which public safety organizations could draw funding for E-911 enhancement and additional funding wasn’t needed. Congress recessed for the elections without approving the E-911 bill. Burns, who originally asked for $500 million in annual funding for E-911, is now asking that a $250 million version of his bill be considered. The version that passed the House (HR-2898) would designate $100 million be spent.

The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching an Office of Interoperability & Compatibility, DHS Secy. Tom Ridge said Mon. DHS said the office would “oversee the wide range of public safety interoperability programs” spread across DHS, but critics were quick to ask whether the announcement was largely political.

With Vonage v. Minn. PUC oral arguments expected in Oct., Vonage urged the FCC during an ex parte meeting last week to act “expeditiously” on its pending petition concerning the jurisdictional nature of its service. “If the FCC chooses to act later, the [U.S. Appeals Court, St. Louis,] will render the decision prior to the FCC, and the Commission will be bound by the court decision,” Vonage attorney William Wilhelm told us: “If the FCC wants to set a precedent, it would have to act on the matter before the court ruling.” The 8th Circuit is expected to issue its decision this year. With respect to VoIP 911 services, Vonage said it continued to “devote substantial resources toward the development of standards and technology necessary to facilitate VoIP 911 services.” It said it was “a signatory to the NENA Statement of Principle with respect to the development of VoIP.” But it said it “concurs with NENA’s opposition to the fragmentation of 911 and agrees that consumer expectations for 911 are national and therefore require jurisdictional leadership and resources from the Federal Government.” Noting that the FCC promised to provide that leadership in its IP services rulemaking, Vonage said it would support Commission action that would endorse “a national approach to IP 911 that would marshal the regional expertise of the public safety community but preclude disparate state approach.” It urged the Commission to approach the development of VoIP 911 “just as it oversaw the national deployment of 911 for commercial mobile radio services.”

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) endorsed the Cingular-AT&T Wireless (AWS) merger in a filing at the FCC. “We are pleased that Cingular and AWS continue to make progress in their E911 deployment,” NENA said. “Through FCC compliance efforts, Cingular and AWS have adhered to existing consent decrees governing E911 Phase I and Phase II obligations… We believe that capabilities of each company to implement and improve 911 services will be strengthened by their merger.”

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) blasted Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) Mon. for shifting funds from Enhanced 911 (E911) funding. NENA said Blagojevich was “putting lives at risk” to balance the budget. NENA said Blagojevich approved the 2004 Ill. budget that included a $1.3 million transfer of funds from the state’s E911 fund. NENA said Ill. has levied a 75 cents tax on each cell phone bill to help fund E911, which would give 911 operators an approximate location of a wireless caller. “The public needs to know that our state leaders are falling short of what is needed to keep up with new technologies and challenges,” said David Tuttle, pres.-Ill. NENA chapter. Members of Congress have been irked by several states that have diverted funds from E911. HR-2989, which has passed the House, and S-1250, which has passed the Senate Commerce Committee but stalled on the floor, would provide money for E911, but not to states that have diverted funding.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) is pushing a new angle in efforts to get stalled Enhanced 911 (E911) legislation through Congress. Seizing on the interest in new services like VoIP, NENA is presenting the case that E911 legislation is essential because it would establish a National Coordinating Office in the federal govt. That office would help integrate 911 services to VoIP and other new services, like Wi-Fi and Blackberries, said NENA Govt. Affairs Dir. Stephen Seitz. The national coordination office was the top priority cited in a document NENA delivered to Congress last week, ahead of funding.

Public safety and business telecom users expressed cautious optimism Wed. that negotiations could be restarted on E911 deployment requirements for multiline telephone systems (MLTS). In a further notice last fall, the FCC had concluded that state and local govts. for now were best positioned to set E911 deployment rules for MLTS, though the Commission said it would monitor their progress. Participants in an FCC E911 Coordination Initiative Wed. agreed the issue of how to locate emergency callers using private branch exchanges (PBXs) is ripe for renewed talks.

FCC Chmn. Powell touted the progress of Enhanced 911 deployment the past 6 months, Tues. telling an E911 Coordination Initiative 900 more public safety answering points (PSAPs) became Phase 2 capable in that period. The Commission a year ago kicked off the initiative to examine E911 implementation issues. At the previous, Oct. initiative meeting also, Powell had cited Phase 2 deployment growth, saying rollouts had jumped 300% in 7 months. At Tues.’ meeting, he said R.I. and Vt. are the first states to report implementing Phase 2 in 100% of PSAPs. “Tennessee is expected to join the list in June,” he said. Separately, Powell cited the agreement between the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) and the Voice on the Net (VON) Coalition on how VoIP providers will deliver location information to PSAPs. It “exemplifies what can be achieved from public/private partnerships,” he said. “While the Commission grapples with this issue, it is encouraging to know that consumers are being provided some basic level of E911 capability for VoIP services.” In opening remarks at the 2- day meeting, Powell said the effectiveness of location capability needed to continue improving in “challenging areas.” He recently outlined the creation of a technical group to focus on E911 network architecture and technical standards issues as part of the Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC). “Measuring and improving the accuracy of E911 location information will be a priority,” he said. The council’s latest iteration, NRIC VII, will examine issues presented by IP protocol and open network architecture for E911 and public safety. “This hard work should result in more accurate and reliable E911 service to wireless subscribers across the nation, whether in small rural communities or big urban corridors,” he said. “There may be deployment challenges in bringing E911 location capability to geographically challenging environments, but the lifesaving capabilities of the service are too vital not to be extended to all subscribers, including rural subscribers.” Another focus of the 2-day meeting is how 911 services can be provided to multi-line telephone systems (MLTS). In an order adopted in Nov. on the scope of E911 regulations, the FCC declined for now to approve national rules for MLTS, instead encouraging states to use model legislation adopted by public safety groups. The Commission said it expected states to act promptly, indicating it would release a public notice in a year to evaluate their progress. “While many may need more time to act, the danger associated with not having location technology for these systems is only growing and E911 capability is just as vital to consumers in this circumstance as with wireless,” Powell said.

Public safety groups urged the FCC in comments this week to expand the scope of Enhanced 911 requirements to include multi-line telephone systems (MLTS). The issue of how to provide caller location information to 911 centers from MLTS systems is among issues the Network Reliability & Interoperability said this week it would consider under a new 2-year charter (CD March 31 p6). But the Ad Hoc Telecom Users Committee backed an FCC decision last year to not enact E911 rules for MLTS, arguing states have clear jurisdiction and are a logical place for the issue to be resolved.