FCC Chairman Ajit Pai appears free to consider issues affecting Securus and inmate calling services in general, despite allegations he has a conflict of interest stemming from his past legal work for the ICS provider, ethics specialists and former commissioners told us. They noted Pai is more than five years removed from his Securus representation, and government recusal requirements last only one to two years. But two government watchdog advocates suggested Pai hold himself to a higher standard to avoid any appearance of a conflict.

Next-Generation 911 needs funding and a standard definition that accounts for how broadband will transform first-responder and 911-center operations, APCO said in a Monday report. Recommendations include launching a federal grant program to fund upgrades to broadband technology and ending some states’ practice of diverting 911 fees to unrelated purposes. NG-911 should be defined as “a secure, nationwide, interoperable, standards-based, all-IP emergency communications infrastructure enabling end-to-end transmission of all types of data, including voice and multimedia communications from the public to an Emergency Communications Center,” APCO said. Future integration between NG-911 and FirstNet’s national public safety network will enable seamless broadband communications between first responders and public safety answering points, while smartphones and other IP-enabled devices will allow the public to send multimedia directly to PSAPs, the report said. “PSAPs of the future will be a nerve center, managing data-rich communications via broadband technology with 9-1-1 callers and first responders.”

APCO's executive committee and executive director met with the officers and CEO of the National Emergency Number Association July 29 to discuss joint positions on 911 issues. An APCO official said the group had nothing to say beyond a statement. “The collegial and productive meeting resulted in consensus by both associations for the need for all Next Generation 9-1-1 technologies to be both interoperable and interconnected including equipment currently described as NENA 13 ‘compliant,’” said a Friday joint statement. “The two associations also discussed and agreed on the need for federal funding to enable state and local governments to transition to Next Generation technologies as well as the need for consistent and transparent messaging concerning the current state of Next Generation 9-1-1 equipment offerings.” Look for joint communications on these topics in the next 30 to 60 days, the groups said.

A California bill that would require ISPs to get express consent from consumers to use, disclose and sell personal data survived a Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee hearing Tuesday, despite opposition from industry. By a 9-1 vote with one member abstaining, the committee advanced AB-375 with several saying the legislation needs work before it reaches the Senate floor. The bill, which unanimously passed the Assembly in May, faces scrutiny by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, scheduled to hold a hearing at our deadline (see 1707060052). A spokeswoman for the Energy Committee emailed that even if Judiciary votes down the bill, it would be held there and "is not officially dead."

Illinois General Assembly Democrats overrode a veto by Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) and passed a bill combining AT&T deregulation with reauthorization of 911 services that were to expire Saturday. Friday, Rauner had asked the legislature to delete tax increases and a section related to telecom deregulation in SB-1839. But Saturday, the Illinois House voted 90-22 and the Senate voted 43-1 to override Rauner’s veto and pass the measure as HB-1811. A state consumer group vowed to fight at the FCC to stop AT&T from killing landlines, but AT&T denied it soon will end home service.

CTIA’s 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed invited vendors of location accuracy technologies to participate in a new round of testing. “Stages 1 and 2 of the Test Bed focused on verifying the indoor performance of existing or commercially available 9-1-1 location technologies,” the group said in a Friday news release. “The new round, Stage 2a, will enable wireless industry and public safety community stakeholders to evaluate how new and evolving technologies can continue to enhance the capabilities of our nation’s 9-1-1 system.” Stage 2a testing is to start in the San Francisco and Atlanta areas later this year. 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).

With cracks in state USF availability widening fast, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska is bearing down on a short-term fix and long-term overhaul. Alaska commissioners discussed fixing USF at two public meetings in June. Seeking to stem the bleeding while the RCA considers broader changes, commissioners voted 4-1 at Wednesday’s meeting to seek comment on changing rules about what to do in a USF shortage. Commissioners said they will take further action in late July. State USF revenue is down in many states and Alaska is one of a few eyeing a shift to connections-based contribution as a possible long-term solution.

New York City’s Next-Generation 911 project will have positive impact for the rest of the country, but more funding is needed, the National Emergency Number Association said Wednesday. The city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications released a request for proposals seeking vendors to build the infrastructure supporting the IP-based 911 system, DoITT said in a Tuesday news release. Proposals are due Aug. 8, with work slated to start in December and NG-911 expected to launch in Q1 2022, DoITT said. While NG-911 is in development, the city plans to launch a text-to-911 service by Q1 2018, it said. “New York’s insistence on testing, validation, and standards will have benefits far beyond our largest city,” NENA said in a statement. “To bring NG9-1-1 to the entire country, however, we need a significant injection of federal capital, and soon. Otherwise, many 9-1-1 centers and the responders and citizens they serve could be stuck with expensive, less-reliable legacy equipment and systems for years to come.” New York City officials applauded the project. “Our number one priority is keeping New Yorkers safe, and developing the strongest, most state-of-the-art 911 system is essential to that mission,” said First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris. “In the 21st century, that means ensuring that New Yorkers who need to communicate with 911 can do more than make a phone call -- we want to give them the ability to send photos, stream video, and more.” NG-911 will make it easier for the city to make further 911 upgrades in the future, added DoITT Commissioner Anne Roest.

By partnering with AT&T, FirstNet assures first responders are more likely to avoid capacity issues in emergencies, consultant Andrew Seybold said Thursday in an email blast. AT&T has much more spectrum available than just FirstNet’s 20 MHz of 700 MHz, Seybold said. “It also has LTE up and running on its own 700-MHz spectrum in band 17, in the AWS band 66, and [Wireless Communications Service] band 30 spectrum. It is also replacing a lot of its systems with LTE in the PCS 1900-MHz band.” That doesn’t mean problems couldn’t occur, he said. “AT&T has to serve its existing customers even during incidents, and it has to make the network available for 9-1-1 emergency traffic. ... Shortage of network capacity during most types of incidents will not be an issue. However, there may be times when AT&T will have to limit the amount of non-FirstNet spectrum being made available to Public Safety.” CEO Randall Stephenson said at J.P. Morgan conference Tuesday he's very excited about deploying the spectrum. “You build this network for first responders, we're going to have to climb every cell site and while you're up on the cell tower, you're going to assume we'll be lighting up all of the spectrum,” he said. “We're basically going to be pre-provisioning a significant amount of capacity as we deploy FirstNet. ... We're going to get a huge performance upgrade as we deploy all this spectrum and bring carrier aggregation to play, and so those three things we'll be executing on heavily over the next 12 months.”

AT&T will deploy next-generation 911 services in Kansas, the first statewide deployment of AT&T ESInet, the carrier said in a Thursday news release. ESInet provides IP-based call routing services to emergency response centers, increasing 911 reliability and expediting emergency response, AT&T said. “Updating our 9-1-1 infrastructure is key to keeping our people safe, and selecting AT&T was an obvious choice,” said Kansas 9-1-1 Coordinating Council Chairman Dick Heitschmidt. AT&T didn't disclose the deal's terms.