Two NARUC draft telecom resolutions disagree on whether Lifeline should support reseller services. Tuesday, NARUC revealed three draft telecom resolutions on Lifeline and E-911 for its annual meeting Nov. 12-15 in Baltimore. One by Nebraska Public Service Commissioner Crystal Rhoades would urge the FCC to keep providing Lifeline funds to non-facilities-based carriers “because they have been crucial in ensuring that low-income households are connected to telecommunication services.” The FCC sought comment on discontinuing that support in a draft NPRM released as part of a Lifeline package that’s scheduled for vote at commissioners’ Nov. 16 meeting (see 1710270013). The Rhoades draft said such an action would “disconnect millions of low-income households.” Another draft by District of Columbia Public Service Commission Chairman Betty Ann Kane takes the other side. Not requiring federal Lifeline participants to use their own facilities “removes any incentive for companies to invest in and to build voice-only or voice and broadband-capable facilities and, thereby, subverts the Act’s principle of promoting access to advanced telecommunications services as set forth in section 254(b),” it said. The Kane resolution also would support several other FCC tentative decisions from the Lifeline proposal, including to (1) eliminate the stand-alone Lifeline Broadband Provider designation, (2) reverse the agency’s pre-emption of State regulatory authority to designate eligible telecommunications carriers and (3) require that Lifeline broadband service providers must also provide voice services. A third draft resolution, by Colorado Public Utilities Commissioner Wendy Moser, would support federal and state actions to require enterprise communications systems (ECS) “manufacturers, installers, and operators to design and configure ECS to allow direct dialing of 9-1-1, route 9-1-1 calls to the proper PSAP [public service answering point] regardless of the particular location of the extension used to call 9-1-1, provide the PSAP with location information accurate enough for first responders to locate the caller, and to support on-site notification.” Federal requirements shouldn’t preclude state from adding nonconflicting requirements, the draft said.

CTIA asked the FCC to approve the National Emergency Address Database (NEAD) Privacy and Security Plan, which CTIA and FCC officials say is on circulation. Matthew Gerst, CTIA director-regulatory affairs, met last week with Louis Peraertz, aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. CTIA officials also met last week with an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1710260036). “Wireless carriers’ ability to utilize the NEAD to produce dispatchable location information for wireless calls to 9-1-1 is contingent on prompt Commission approval of the Plan,” said a CTIA filing in docket 07-114.

CTIA is pressing the FCC to approve the National Emergency Address Database (NEAD) Privacy and Security Plan that CTIA and FCC officials said is on circulation. The association reported on a meeting with Travis Litman, aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. “Carriers’ ability to utilize the NEAD to produce dispatchable location information for wireless calls to 9-1-1 is contingent on prompt Commission approval of the Plan,” said a filing in docket 07-114, asking: “Approve the Plan expeditiously and provide the certainty needed to help ensure that the NEAD can remain on-track to support the carriers’ ability to use the NEAD to produce dispatchable location information for wireless calls to 9-1-1.”

A Wisconsin Senate committee voted 4-1 Tuesday to pass small-cells legislation. The Elections and Utilities Committee supported the effectively identical AB-348 and SB-425 after the municipal league withdrew its opposition to the bills that would pre-empt local wireless siting authority (see 1710240053). The Assembly previously passed AB-348. Wisconsin Rep. Mike Kuglitsch (R), who authored AB-348, wants a Nov. 9 Senate vote, Kuglitsch Chief of Staff Garrett Huffman told us. If the Senate passes the bill, the Assembly would have to concur with amendments before it goes to the governor's desk, the aide said. In Illinois, lawmakers Tuesday extended the final action deadline for a similar small-cells bill (SB-1451) to Nov. 10.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly called "unconscionable" state diversion of 911 fees. “We should call this practice what it really is: stealing,” O’Rielly said Wednesday to the New Jersey Wireless Association: “State governments are stealing their citizens’ hard-earned incomes under the premise that they’re being used for public safety officials.” O’Rielly said some downplay the practice, but it has a cost for consumers. “Even if a state is just diverting current collections because it maintains positive balances in an existing account, the diversion generally prevents new investment in costly, future networks, as states don’t want to deplete their accounts in total,” he said. “Significant investment -- not just maintenance -- is going to be necessary to develop and implement NG 9-1-1.” O’Rielly backed a unified alternative wireless emergency number for all of the U.S. People have to use #77 in Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey, *47 in North Carolina, *77 in Massachusetts and *11 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, he said. “Why do we force the American public to remember these different numbers or read a roadside sign while driving along the highway?” he asked. “Are these numbers being used effectively to shift some vital mobile emergency traffic away from the 9-1-1 calling centers?” O’Rielly is eager for the FCC to move forward to expedite the siting of small cells and other new facilities needed for 5G. “Sadly, the real loser in all of this is the consumer, who must wait longer for access to new technologies,” he said. “If this situation is not resolved quickly and satisfactorily, the Commission must be willing to use its preemption authority against those governmental entities.” The FCC posted the text of O’Rielly’s speech.

The 911 Location Technologies Test Bed, an independent entity established by CTIA, is inviting vendors of location-accuracy technologies to participate in Stage Z. The test bed was established to independently evaluate the ability of carriers to meet FCC indoor 911 location accuracy requirements through different technologies. The FCC approved an order in January 2015 requiring carriers to improve their performance in identifying the location of wireless calls to 911 (see 1501290066). “Stage Z testing focuses on emerging indoor technologies that determine the altitude, or z-axis, of the 9-1-1 caller,” said a Friday news release.

The FCC deactivated the Disaster Information Reporting System for Hurricane Irma at the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s request, said a Public Safety Bureau in a public notice Monday. That leaves Monday’s DIRS report the final one for Irma (see 1709180034), the PN said. The FCC “anticipates that, within the next couple of days, FEMA will likely request activation of DIRS for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” the PN said, and a separate notice will be issued. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai praised the dependability of AM radio in disasters but conceded that the band is perceived as outdated. “Whenever these emergencies hit, listenership goes through the roof,” Pai said in a radio interview in iHeartMedia’s Miami headquarters during a visit to Irma-damaged Florida with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. “You guys do a terrific job giving people the information when they need it,” he said. Younger listeners don’t gravitate to AM, and “time is not on the side of the AM dial,” Pai said, but he said he and Clyburn are working to improve things for AM. “A bipartisan majority at the FCC” believes in AM radio, Pai said. It's “critically important” for broadcasters to have an FCC that supports them, Clyburn said. Broadcasters should know that the FCC is thinking about their issues and the emergency services they provide, she said. Clyburn and Pai also toured a public safety building, and met with a Florida public service commissioner and staff from the FCC’s Miami Field Office, said a news release. They spoke with a team restoring cell towers and other wireless infrastructure damaged during the storm, it said. “The lessons learned during our visit will help the FCC’s continued work to improve the performance of communications networks in future emergencies,” Pai said in the release, praising emergency and wireless workers, plus broadcasters. There's “much more work to be done in the days and weeks ahead, including in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where more than 50% of cell sites remain out of service,” said Clyburn in the release. “Working with my colleagues, Members of Congress, as well as state and local officials, we can translate these lessons into policies that ensure our nation’s communications networks and 9-1-1 systems remain reliable and resilient during disasters.” The FCC added a briefing on its response to the recent hurricanes to the agenda for the Sept. 26 commissioners' meeting, said a notice. The briefing will be done by Public Safety Bureau staff, the notice said.

Emergency-911 reliability suffers from using pre-internet infrastructure and from institutional complexity, insufficient staffing and funding, experts said in interviews. Next-generation 911 won’t prevent outages and adds new challenges, they said. Over time, the IP-based network should be more reliable and will help detect and fix problems faster, they said. Funding NG-911 and ending state diversion of 911 fees would speed improvements.

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long names Field Operations Directorate Assistant Administrator Michael Byrne federal disaster recovery coordinator for Storm Harvey-hit (see 1709010042) areas ... Utilities Technology Council hires Rob Thormeyer, ex-aide to then-Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Colette Honorable and before that at NARUC, as its first director-communications and advocacy ... Last Mile Communications CEO Peter Kahelin, a founding partner, retires effective in Q4, and will be non-executive chairman ... Cox Media Group moves up Paul Curran to market vice president-Orlando.

Southeast Texas won't quickly recover after Tropical Storm Harvey damaged and flooded 911 facilities and utility infrastructure (see 1708290029 and 1708280049), emergency and utility officials said in interviews last week. Surging numbers of calls overwhelmed public service answering points (PSAPs) used to far fewer requests, said one official. Industry officials said providers are working together and continue to restore service and assist with relief. The FAA cleared drones to fly into the area.