FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly blamed 911 fee diversion for Guam’s reported inability to record 911 calls. “Guam's consumers pay the fees & rewarded with broken system,” O’Rielly tweeted Monday. “Diversion must end!” He added: “How is it possible that for almost three years the capabilities of Guam's 9-1-1 system were compromised -- no recording ability -- but leadership wasn't informed or didn't know? Guam's government needs to stop stealing consumer paid fees & modernize its system.” The U.S. territory didn’t comment. O'Rielly this summer said Guam was playing politics on the issue (see 1807090052). A Tuesday editorial in the Guam Daily Post, which first reported the 911 recording problem, condemned the territory's fee diversion and urged incoming Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero (D) to prioritize the issue.
A surge in FCC ex parte meetings about access to national outage data in the network outage reporting system (NORS) and disaster information reporting system (DIRS) may foreshadow commission action in the near future, said parties to docket 15-80. States and others seek access, but the telecom industry is raising confidentiality concerns (see 1811060036). Multiple stakeholders that have talked with the FCC said the bureau is asking for input and meetings, but it's not clear what, if anything, Chairman Ajit Pai wants to do on the issue or when. The impetus for those meetings isn't clear, we were told.
APCO told the FCC direct access to the network outage reporting system and the disaster information reporting system by 911 emergency communications centers (ECCs) would be “helpful.” It's "more important that ECCs receive timely, actionable information regarding any outage that affects 9-1-1 service, including directly from communications service providers,” APCO filed Tuesday in docket 15-80 on a call with Public Safety Bureau staff. “ECCs should receive outage information in an easily accessible format that provides situational awareness with regard to the timing, nature, and scope of any impacts to 9-1-1.”
Michigan's Public Service Commission unanimously adopted reimbursement cost categories for deploying IP-based 911 services, the PSC said Friday. An order in docket U-20146 approved 12 cost categories and directed providers to submit categorized costs and to indicate if they're recurring. Cable companies disagreed with Frontier Communications seeking reimbursement for the 911 call conversion costs of service providers that aren't a county's 911 service provider (see 1806190065). The agency said the state 911 statute “specifically limits reimbursement to IP-based 9-1-1 service providers after review by the Commission.” In two other unanimous votes Friday, commissioners approved sending (1) unbundled network element and local interconnection services rules in docket U-20160 and (2) basic local exchange service customer migration rules in docket U-20161 to the Legislative Service Bureau and the Office of Regulatory Reinvention for formal approvals.
It’s premature for the FCC to adopt a Z-axis metric for accurate vertical location of wireless calls, commented CTIA and the National Emergency Number Association this week on an August report by carriers in docket 07-114 (see 1809100037). “Rather than adopting ±5 meters as the Z-Axis metric, we suggest that further testing is a better course to advance vertical location solutions that will help to provide ‘floor level’ accuracy,” CTIA commented. NENA agreed the FCC should delay adopting a Z-axis metric until a more accurate one can be validated and supported by test results: “Assuming a modest extension of the Commission’s deadline is possible, NENA hopes that the Test Bed will recognize the exceptional circumstances and allow the additional Stage Z testing to occur as quickly as is practicable for the involved parties.” Citizens and public safety need a z-axis accuracy benchmark of plus-or-minus 3 meters, NENA said. Carriers’ proposal for 5-meter metric “fails the American public and the dedicated public safety professionals who need actionable, accurate location information to find 9-1-1 callers during emergencies,” APCO commented. The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council agreed: “A vertical z-axis metric providing floor level accuracy is needed and can be accomplished with available technology, especially within the generous implementation timeframe established in the rules adopted in 2015.” NextNav technology can achieve accuracy within 2 meters, said NextNav and the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority. NextNav supported a 3-meter metric, while BRETSA said it should be 2 meters.
The 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424) and two other public safety telecom-related bills drew bipartisan backing during a Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing, though some Democrats insisted more federal funding will be needed for the legislation to be effective. House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and others invoked the Next Generation 9-1-1 Act (HR-4672/S-2061). The subcommittee also examined the National Non-Emergency Mobile Number Act (HR-5700) and Anti-Swatting Act (HR-6003).
A Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee on the 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424) and other public safety telecom-related bills will likely be focused on whether there's a path to potentially move those bills later this year, lawyers and lobbyists told us. The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. HR-6424 would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money. FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is a backer of the bill but won't testify on its behalf (see 1808170023).
The ATIS Network Reliability Steering Committee (NRSC) supported industry best practices and opposed new rules in response to a June FCC Public Safety Bureau notice seeking comment on network resilience during and after the 2017 hurricanes. NSRC said it formed a Situational Awareness for 9-1-1 Outages Task Force, which has identified "areas for future work and is developing a set of requirements,” the ATIS committee said. “The group is focusing on the possible development of a [public safety answering point] database and a standardized process for updating the information in the database.” On backhaul, the NRSC suggested “industry examine resiliency-related best practices to see if gaps exist vis-à-vis backhaul providers.” NSRC members met with Public Safety Bureau staff, said a filing in docket 11-60.
NARUC said it generally endorses some FCC proposals in a draft NPRM to improve 911 dialing from multiline telephone systems in buildings and complexes and ensure "dispatchable location" information is conveyed with 911 calls, regardless of technology. A 2014 NARUC resolution commended FCC efforts to ensure public safety answering points get "accurate information to identify the indoor location of wireless 9-1-1 callers and supported adoption of effective location technologies for indoor and outdoor 9-1-1 calls," said the group's filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-261 on meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel. It said a November 2017 resolution backed federal and state actions to require enterprise communications systems to allow direct 911 dialing (without extra digits) and provide location information precise enough to find callers. "Both NARUC resolutions suggest that any federal rules should be written to permit States to impose additional requirements 'presuming that such additional requirements do not contradict or conflict with federal requirements,'" it said. The NPRM is on the agenda for the Sept. 26 commissioners' meeting (see 1809050056). The filing also made arguments opposing an FCC proposal in a 2017 NPRM to eliminate resellers from its Lifeline USF program, and urging changes to telco jurisdictional separations rules without bypassing a federal-state joint board.
The FCC should add a regional or state 911 authority to the definition of “covered 911 service provider,” Motorola Solutions said in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 13-75. “Without this addition, an entity providing 911, E911, or NG911 capabilities or their functional equivalent may not be subject to the covered 911 service provider rules if it provided the services pursuant to direct contract with a regional or state 9-1-1 authority,” Motorola said.