CTIA disagrees with states over how to split text-to-911 costs, it said in comments due Wednesday in docket 11-153 and posted there Thursday. To resolve a conflict holding up Maine's adoption of text-to-911 via message session relay protocol, and so the state may appropriately assess costs, the Maine Public Utilities Commission asked the FCC to clarify where the point of demarcation is between wireless providers and the state’s next-generation 911 network (see 1701090027). Wireless service providers should pay to connect from the text control center (TCC) to the state’s NG-911 system, the Maine PUC commented. “Placing the burden on a 911 authority, even on an interim basis, is fundamentally unfair when the requirement to provide the service lies with the carriers.” The point of demarcation should be at the ingress designated by the state’s session border controller, “which governs inputs to the statewide ESInet and routes calls using an Emergency Service Routing Proxy (ESRP),” it said. CTIA said the egress side of the wireless providers’ TCC is the appropriate demarcation point: “The Maine PUC offers no justification for upending the established cost allocation paradigm that public safety representatives and wireless providers have instituted and the FCC has recognized for interim text-to-911 solutions.” The National Association of State 911 Administrators supported the Maine PUC. The FCC should set a standard point of interconnection that could be applied to future multimedia communication in NG-911, NASNA commented. “This would aid states that are moving aggressively toward NG911 to better serve the evolving communication preferences of consumers and hopefully minimize the transition timeline.” APCO said the information provided by Maine seemed to support its suggested demarcation point. “To ensure comprehensive applicability across network designs and naming conventions, the Commission might benefit from considering the need for a functional definition of the demarcation point, rather than identifying a specific piece of equipment or network element,” the public safety group commented. The National Emergency Number Association urged the FCC to resolve the matter soon. "Unless and until critical demarcation questions, such as the one raised by Maine, are resolved, states like Maine and other local 9-1-1 authorities will face continued uncertainty and potentially conflicting service provider demands with respect to the structure of legacy voice, interim SMS, and end-stage Next Generation 9-1-1 service."

Major wireless carriers detailed their efforts to improve 911 indoor location accuracy pursuant to a FCC order in January 2015 (see 1501290066). AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon reported on their plans and actions to implement new regulatory obligations, including to meet certain indoor accuracy benchmarks for 911 calls, in filings (here, here, here and here) posted Monday and Friday in docket 07-114 that provided extensive technical information. Under the rules, "nationwide wireless carriers are required to generate either a Dispatchable Location ('DL') or X/Y location information within 50 meters for a certain percentage of wireless calls to 9-1-1 within specific timeframes," Sprint explained. "Dispatchable Location solutions provide the verified street address, plus additional location information from the planned National Emergency Address Database ('NEAD') that will help locate, with increased accuracy, a wireless device placing a call to 9-1-1. By developing Dispatchable Location solutions, wireless providers are leveraging evolving wireless technologies, such as WiFi and Bluetooth, to help improve the ability of first responders to efficiently and safely respond to wireless 9-1-1 callers that may be located indoors." The four carriers also "agreed to fund and implement a NEAD containing the locations of wireless access points to help provide a Dispatchable Location to public safety answering points," Sprint said.

CTIA invited vendors of location-accuracy technologies to participate in Stage 3 of its 911 location technologies test bed. The first two stages “focused on verifying the indoor performance of existing or commercially available 9-1-1 location technologies,” the group said in a Friday news release. “Stage 3 will now focus on location technologies in a variety of production-ready stages. The availability of Stage 3 demonstrates the wireless industry and public safety community’s commitment to considering how new technologies can continue to enhance the capabilities of our nation’s 9-1-1 system.” Stage 3 testing is to occur in the San Francisco and Atlanta areas later this year, the association said: “All test results are confidential to the test participants, but participants are encouraged to share summary results with wireless industry and public safety stakeholders who can evaluate the performance of various technologies.”

Emergency 911 apps for smartphones may not be safe, cautioned public safety, phone companies and others, in comments last week in FCC docket RM-11780 about a National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) request for a proceeding on how smartphone 911 apps may interface with 911 systems (see 1612190055). Mobile apps are “not ready to replace traditional voice calls and SMS messages to 9-1-1, APCO commented. Apps could one day enhance 911, but critical issues must first be addressed, it said. The National Emergency Number Association supported an FCC proceeding, agreeing the apps are an opportunity but also a challenge for public safety. The apps must be held to the same standards as other parts of 911 systems, NENA said. AT&T said mobile 911 apps hold promise, but it has seen that certain apps can interfere with the normal operations of 911 calling provided by mobile service providers. “Wireless carriers cannot be the gate keepers for these third-party emergency services apps over which the carrier has no control,” AT&T commented. But it said there’s no legal basis for the FCC to assert authority over 911 apps, and it would be better to develop industry standards. NTCA also raised concerns about FCC legal authority, saying the FTC may be better positioned to act. ACT|The App Association agreed the FTC is a more appropriate venue. It commented that FCC actions could stunt growth of the app industry: “Emergency communications are no exception to the app revolution, and the Commission should ensure that its policies enhance, rather than disrupt, the benefits that this innovative ecosystem can bring to 911 communications.”

APCO and the National Emergency Number Association supported a petition by Onvoy Spectrum, which is seeking to directly obtain pseudo-automatic number identifications (p-ANI) for use in its 911 technology for data-only devices using over-the-top VoIP. The FCC Wireline Bureau issued a notice in December seeking comment (see 1612230019). Onvoy is developing a new capability for a VoIP app to contact 911 from devices not tied into a wireless carrier network, APCO said. “APCO is encouraged by Onvoy’s efforts, because there is presently no 9-1-1 solution for such OTT mobile applications, and Onvoy appears to be addressing a number of important 9-1-1-related considerations,” APCO commented in docket 13-97. “It is in the public interest for the Commission to grant appropriate waiver relief to enable Onvoy to continue to pursue further testing of its OTT VoIP 9-1-1 solution.” In separate comments, NENA said it "cannot fault Neustar for attempting to establish sensible criteria for the evaluation of requests for wireless p-ANI resources. Clearly some gating criteria must be established for this purpose. As a practical matter, however, there is little to no technical difference between wireless and VoIP p-ANI resources. [Wireless] and VoIP technologies are rapidly converging, and approaches such as Onvoy’s, which enables dynamic location capabilities for VoIP services, are a natural part of that convergence.” Neustar administers the p-ANI pool.

Senate Republicans pushed back against the $1 trillion, 10-year infrastructure plan that Senate Democrats began unveiling Tuesday. But senators from both parties say any effort should involve broadband. The Senate Democrats’ plan attempts to pre-empt the $1 trillion package that President Donald Trump said he wants Congress to advance.

The National Emergency Number Association and others urged an end to 911 fee diversion, after the FCC released another report showing several states using 911 fees from phone bills for things not directly related to 911. Eight states and Puerto Rico together diverted nearly $220.3 million, or about 8.4 percent of total fees collected by 49 states and four territories reporting in 2015, the commission said in an annual report to Congress released Friday (see 1701130065). Some state lawmakers want to close the spigot through legislation this session; state executives defended the practice.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is still drafting 911 legislation, which could carry out FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's next-generation 911 legislative goals. Nelson first mentioned he would craft a bill on the topic during a September FCC oversight hearing, promising an introduction “in the near future” but without any movement in the months that followed. Lawmakers adjourned earlier this month, but Nelson didn’t forget his pledge.

APCO, the National Emergency Number Association and National Association of State 911 Administrators jointly expressed concerns about a CTIA proposal for quarterly 911 live call reports by the carriers, due at the FCC starting in February. “CTIA included a proposed template for the reports and explanatory information regarding the carriers’ intent to exclude certain categories of 9-1-1 calls from consideration,” the public safety groups said. But the proposal wouldn't include some important calls to 911, the associations said. “APCO, NENA, and NASNA are particularly concerned that the carriers intend to exclude 9-1-1 calls made from roaming handsets and non-service initialized (NSI) devices,” said a filing in docket 07-114. Location accuracy rules, meanwhile, “make no exceptions when it comes to the collection and reporting of aggregate live 9-1-1 call location data,” the groups said. CTIA didn't comment Wednesday.

Frontier Communications may face penalties in California over the company’ difficult transition last April after acquiring Verizon wireline customers in the state. The California Public Utilities Commission voted 3-2 to support a proposed decision on rural call completion issues, including a section directing the Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED) “to investigate post-transition outage issues raised by dial-tone outages and 9-1-1 access issues following the transfer of Verizon, California to Frontier.” The decision as proposed also orders a re-evaluation of the CPUC’s transaction approval process to avoid a repeat in future telecom integrations. The commissioners' meeting was the last for Commissioner Mike Florio.