CTIA representatives met aides to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks on dispatchable solutions for calls to 911. “Member companies are committed to enhancing the location accuracy of wireless 9-1-1 calls, particularly indoors, for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) through innovative solutions,” CTIA said, in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 07-114 . Since 2015, “wireless providers have met every location accuracy benchmark and requirement set forth” that was approved by the FCC that year (see 1501290066), the group said. The nationwide carriers have “tested and implemented solutions, such as device-based hybrid to meet the Commission’s increasing benchmarks for horizontal location accuracy, stood up the NEAD [National Emergency Address Database] and attained Commission approval for its privacy and security plan, and proposed a vertical metric for z-axis information,” CTIA said.

A Nevada Assembly panel cleared two bills that could divert 911 fee revenue for unrelated purposes. The Government Affairs Committee recommended passage Tuesday of SB-25, which would allow 911 fee revenue to be used to pay personnel and training costs related to portable event recording devices, and SB-12, which would use those fees to pay for an audit of surcharges collected by telecom providers. The Senate last month voted 21-0 for both bills. “Diverting funds that are paid by consumers toward 9-1-1 emergency services is not only deceptive and wrong, it puts emergency communications systems at risk," said FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly in a statement to us. "We heard support [Wednesday] from the Congress for even stronger enforcement mechanisms to be used against states that divert. Even under current law, diverters remain ineligible for federal NG911 grants.” Don’t use 911 fees, CTIA said in an April 17 letter on SB-25 to Senate Government Affairs Committee Chairman David Parks (D). “Use of 911 fees for purposes unrelated to 911 programs is misleading to wireless consumers and could crowd out funding for 911 enhancements that may be necessary in the future,” wrote CTIA Director-State Legislative Affairs Lisa McCabe. CTIA wrote a similar letter that day opposing SB-12. Parks didn’t comment Wednesday.

CTIA representatives met with an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on a recent report by the wireless industry’s National Emergency Address Database (see 1904290195). “Member companies are committed to enhancing the location accuracy of wireless 9-1-1 calls, particularly indoors, for Public Safety Answering Points,” the association filed in a document posted Wednesday in docket 07-114. “CTIA expressed support for a shared goal among the Commission and the public safety community to enhance 9-1-1 location accuracy, particularly for 9-1-1 calls placed from indoor locations, using the most technologically feasible and effective approach.”

Tests by three major wireless carriers of dispatchable location technology show it can work but isn’t ready for prime time, CTIA told the FCC, posted Monday in docket 07-114. The association said 30,090 test calls were placed on the wireless networks of the three carriers participating in the simulation: AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. “These results reflect the capabilities of an emerging technology, rather than the capabilities of a complete, ready-to-deploy system,” the report said. “This campaign demonstrated the fundamental ability of Dispatchable Location technology to deliver accurate civic addresses. It also identified the current limitations of this technology at this early stage.” In tests, 82.6 percent of valid calls resulted in delivery of an address for the caller and 74 percent the correct address. CTIA and representatives of the carriers met with Public Safety Bureau staff last week to discuss results. “The wireless industry remains committed to enhancing indoor 9-1-1 location accuracy through innovative solutions,” CTIA said.

New Jersey’s failure to spend money tagged for 911 to upgrade an aging backbone network is delaying potentially life-saving next-generation features, local government officials said in interviews. Some counties years ago upgraded local systems and equipment to be NG-911 capable. They can’t use them to their full potential until the state modernizes its network integrating local public safety answering points (PSAPs). New Jersey probably would have enough money for upgrades if it stopped moving 911 fee revenue, they said.

New Jersey’s failure to spend money tagged for 911 to upgrade an aging backbone network is delaying potentially life-saving next-generation features, local government officials said in interviews. Some counties years ago upgraded local systems and equipment to be NG-911 capable. They can’t use them to their full potential until the state modernizes its network integrating local public safety answering points (PSAPs). New Jersey probably would have enough money for upgrades if it stopped moving 911 fee revenue, they said.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island governors to end 911 fee shifting. “The practice of diverting 9-1-1 fees gives your states proverbial black eyes, harms public safety, and makes your states ineligible for funding to modernize your emergency call centers,” O'Rielly wrote in an April 5 letter, released Tuesday, to Democrats Andrew Cuomo of New York, Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island. The FCC said those states lead the practice (see 1812190059). “The mere act undermines the willingness of consumers, feeling duped by their local and state representatives, to support current levels and future raises in program spending, even when there is a compelling need to modernize individual systems,” O’Rielly said. Diversion reduces “overall support for the entire fee structure, even in areas outside your states,” and “shortchanges the budgets of emergency call centers and has prevented systems from being upgraded,” the commissioner said. The governors didn't comment.

CenturyLink has a role in 911 delivery issues even when the problem isn’t in the carrier’s dedicated network provided by West Safety Services, said the Minnesota Commerce and Public Safety departments. The agencies disagreed Wednesday with CenturyLink's saying in docket 18-542 that a Public Utilities Commission probe into an Aug. 1 outage should focus on 911 and not address separate network issues separate. CenturyLink agreed to be 911 system coordinator in Minnesota, the departments said. “The Agencies are not suggesting that CenturyLink’s task is to ensure that problems never occur, only that CenturyLink agree to assist the public safety agencies in working toward the goal of eliminating failed 9-1-1 calls, no matter the cause.” The investigation’s purpose is to ensure a responsive 911 system, they said. “If a call does not reach the [public safety answering point] or cannot deliver necessary information, then that uncompleted call constitutes a public safety failure, and every effort must be made by the providers of the network and providers of the public safety services to ensure that calls never fail for any reason.” When 911 fails, communication to all parties involved in emergency call delivery and to the public “must be prompt, regular, and as complete as possible,” they said.

The telecom industry lined up against a California anti-robocalls bill but couldn’t stop a Senate panel from passing the bill by wide margin at a Wednesday hearing. A state patchwork would slow a national effort, said cable, wireless and wireline lobbyists. Similar bills to crack down on caller ID spoofing, which have seen bipartisan groundswell this year (see 1902150048), moved forward in Arkansas and Mississippi.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Norma Torres, D-Calif., seek co-sponsors for their forthcoming 911 Saves Act, to change the federal government's classification of public safety call-takers and dispatchers (see 1902280029) as “protective service occupations.” The Standard Occupational Classification system classifies those jobs as “office and administrative support occupations,” which “includes secretaries, office clerks, and taxicab dispatchers,” Fitzpatrick and Torres wrote colleagues. “We believe this is based on an outdated, misinformed view of the work performed.” The protective service occupations classification encompasses “a broad range of 'protective' occupations: lifeguards, fish and game wardens, parking enforcement workers, firefighters, and even playground monitors,” the lawmakers said. “As former a 9-1-1 Dispatcher and FBI agent, we can tell you that the nature of their work is absolutely protective."