Utilities Technology Council board promotes Sheryl Riggs to president-CEO, from interim since January; directors extend officers' terms for another year due to postponement of UTC’s annual conference, which will now be held virtually ... Lerman Senter promotes David Burns to member and hires Art Harding, ex-Foster Garvey, as counsel ... FeganScott adds Melissa Ryan Clark, ex-Tadler Law and a lawyer with experience with privacy and data breaches, as of counsel.
CTIA and major carriers said the FCC should allow a mobile operating system-based approach on vertical location requirements. CTIA, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile representatives spoke with aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, said a filing Thursday in docket 07-114: “Adopting a nationwide approach that recognizes the current capabilities of mobile OS-based solutions can yield 40% of 9-1-1 calls producing ± 3 meter z-axis location information by April 2021, while network-dependent solutions in contrast will likely yield only 2%.”
Google’s participation in the most recent stage of vertical location accuracy testing “demonstrates that device-based solutions offer promise to meet the goal of providing accurate Z-axis location information with indoor wireless 9-1-1 calls,” CTIA and Google representatives told an aide to FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. Test results show “the prospect of rapid scalability and consistency to deliver Z-axis location measurements beyond the top 25/top 50” markets, said a filing posted Friday in docket 07-114.
Nevada doesn’t seem to adequately oversee counties’ use of 911 fees, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly alleged in a letter released Thursday to Division of Emergency Management Chief Justin Luna. O’Rielly followed up on the FCC’s 2019 report that at least one Nevada county diverted the revenue in 2018 (see 1912190077). “States have flexibility in how they structure their 9-1-1 systems, and while Nevada has implemented a relatively decentralized 9-1-1 system, there needs to be some semblance of cohesion throughout such a system to ensure emergency call centers are being properly funded and that Nevada consumers are not being deceived or ripped off by their government(s),” said the commissioner. “Such cohesion seems to be lacking in Nevada.” O’Rielly asked why the state didn’t submit fuller information about counties’ practices and if it could improve for the next report. Luna didn't comment.
The pandemic is making the case for next-generation 911 while complicating some deployments, state emergency number officials and others told us this month. “Our migration schedule is completely destroyed,” said Colorado State 911 Program Manager Daryl Branson. COVID-19 hot spot New York City plans to roll out text-to-911 next month and is still targeting 2024 to complete a NG-911 project proposed three years ago.
CTIA, AT&T, Google, Verizon and T-Mobile representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Public Safety Bureau staff on the most recent vertical location accuracy testing. The work with Google shows “device-based solutions offer promise to meet the goal of providing accurate Z-axis location information with indoor wireless 9-1-1 calls,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 07-114.
Some want more clarity about the FCC's role regulating broadband, said comments posted through Tuesday. The agency asked to refresh dockets including 17-287, on how broadband service's reclassification as an information, not telecom, service affects authority over Lifeline, pole attachment agreements and public safety. Commenters disagreed whether the FCC should reconsider based on the public safety considerations.
Comcast appoints Candy Lawson, ex-21st Century Fox, senior vice president-chief compliance officer-senior deputy general counsel ... Pete Villano, ex-House Armed Services Committee, becomes Microsoft Azure director-government affairs ... Hunton Andrews taps Kevin Hahm, ex-FTC, as partner-competition and consumer protection.
Among other personnel moves (see this section, April 3), Public Knowledge promotes Meredith Whipple to digital outreach director ... Patrick Lin, California Polytechnic State University, joins Center for a New American Security Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and National Security ... Code Dx announces Martin Weber, ex-Cisco, as senior vice president-worldwide sales; promotes Curtis Bragdon to vice president-business development and public sector ... Seaborn Networks appoints Michel Marcelino, from Vogel Telecom, senior vice president, head-Latin America ... President Donald Trump nominating judge for the Western District of Kentucky Justin Walker to U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
CTIA questioned the legality of proposed backup power rules and other resiliency measures Friday. The California Public Utilities Commission proposed requiring 72-hour backup for all essential communications equipment (see 2003090026). The wireless industry thinks that's “overly prescriptive, unmoored from the record, impossible to achieve, and places the burden on wireless carriers to maintain power to their networks regardless of the severity of adverse conditions, such as those that prevent electric utilities from maintaining commercial power,” said comments in docket R.18-03-011. Santa Clara County supported requiring 72-hour backup power. In October, the county had one 66-hour outage and another was 94 hours, and Pacific Gas and Electric has promised future outages will be shorter, the locality said. The requirement could be longer than 72 hours, suggested a rural counties group. “It cannot be acceptable for 9-1-1 or emergency notification services to go dark for any period.” The Communications Workers of America said voluntary commitments aren’t enough.