A trio of House Communications Subcommittee Democratic members from California -- Vice Chair Doris Matsui, Anna Eshoo and Jerry McNerney -- is seeking an FCC briefing “as soon as possible” on the communications-related impacts of recent wildfires and rolling blackouts in that state. The wireless industry amid the wildfires has been seeking a rehearing on a California Public Utilities Commission order requiring 72-hour backup power in certain high-threat fire areas (see 2008200038). The communications impacts of the wildfires and blackouts are especially concerning because “these events are taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the three said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Communications outages mean that people are unable to call 9-1-1, let their loved ones know that they are safe, or receive lifesaving alerts, which may include information about alternative wildfire evacuation routes or other information specific to evacuations during the pandemic.” The lawmakers “strongly urge and expect your agency, which is charged with overseeing our nation’s communications networks to promote public safety, to be taking all possible steps to monitor the situation and help ensure that Californians stay connected during this time.” They want the FCC briefing to include information on wildfire and blackout-related outages in California reported to the agency since Aug. 14 and commission actions to monitor the situation and work with the state government and telecom providers. The Democrats also want to know about situations in which wireless emergency alerts were used to issue warnings and provide information on wildfires and the extent to which the FCC is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others to ensure the WEA system is used “appropriately to protect the public” during the wildfires. The FCC didn’t comment.

Groups urged the FCC to reject requests for a waiver of the June 30 deadline to offer real-time text instead of traditional text technology filed by the Competitive Carriers Association, U.S. Cellular and East Kentucky Network (see 2007010045). Comments were due Friday in docket 16-145. Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, National Association of the Deaf, Hearing Loss Association of America and others filed joint comments, posted Monday. “When the Commission issued the RTT Order in 2016, it may have anticipated some deviation from the estimated transition timeline, and we acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced additional complexity,” they said: “But the Commission did not condone, and should not now permit, a poorly executed transition that risks Americans losing access to 9-1-1 services for an indefinite period of time.” As carriers retire TTY “without RTT access to 9-1-1, people will die,” they said. The groups filed the only comment.

The FCC approved updated rules for finding the vertical location of wireless callers to 911 over partial dissent by Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and concerns by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. The concerns were expected, with the FCC getting contradictory advice about the order (see 2007100045), which updates rules commissioners approved in November (see 1911220034). The first mandates kick in next April.

The vertical location order is expected to be approved largely as proposed by Chairman Ajit Pai, though some concerns are expected to be raised and a few tweaks are likely, FCC and industry officials said in interviews last week. Aides to commissioners have taken numerous meetings and are wading through the arguments made for and against the draft, officials said. Public safety groups have come in with different views.

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.