The three states said to divert the most 911 fee revenue for non-911 purposes look unlikely to quit the practice soon, we found last week after surveying state officials including legislators and bodies that lobby for emergency operations. At least two states -- New York and Rhode Island -- have pending legislation to require that 911 fee revenue fund only 911 services. Passage could be difficult because the bills are written by members of political minority parties and state governors won’t say 911 fee diversion is a problem, said those we interviewed. In New Jersey, a bill requiring an upgrade to next-generation 911 raises 911 fees, despite FCC estimates that the state diverts nearly 90 percent of its fund. In 2014, eight states diverted $223.4 million, or 8.8 percent of all 911 funds, said the FCC's most-recent report to Congress about 911 fee collection (see 1601080057).
Some of the seven telecom bills the House Communications Subcommittee will consider at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday contain problems and should be opposed, some of the nine witnesses plan to tell lawmakers, according to written testimony. CTIA will object to the House Republican bill to cap the Lifeline program at $1.5 billion, while the American Civil Liberties Union will question the privacy protections of another bill.
The 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed, an independent entity established by CTIA, said Thursday it has picked LCC Design Services as the administrator of the indoor 911 location accuracy test bed. “As the independent administrator of the test bed, LCC will develop a process to evaluate the indoor performance of wireless carriers’ deployed and new technology vendor[s]’ ... wireless 9‑1‑1 location accuracy solutions,” CTIA said in a news release. “The test bed results will provide critical information to determine compliance with the FCC’s rules and potential improvements to existing capabilities that will enhance public safety’s abilities to respond to emergencies quickly and safely.” The FCC approved an order in January 2015 requiring carriers to improve their performance in identifying the location of wireless callers to 911 (see 1501290066).
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler offered a bevy of defenses and explanations to Capitol Hill on his Lifeline program overhaul and broadband privacy regulation NPRM, both set for votes Thursday at the FCC’s meeting. The agency released Wheeler’s responses to multiple lawmakers Wednesday on the items, as governors slammed the Lifeline overhaul plan and Charter Communications defended it.
Comcast urged a federal district court to dismiss a complaint by two Georgia counties on a dispute about collection of 911 charges. The counties of Cobb and Gwinnett filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, alleging Comcast failed to bill, collect, report and remit the appropriate amount of 911 charges from customers. The counties seek to collect the charges from Comcast. But in a motion to dismiss filed Friday, Comcast said it didn't underbill 911 charges -- and in any case, the counties don't have authority to hold telecom providers liable for unpaid 911 changes. The governing law in the state, the 1977 Georgia Emergency Telephone Number 9-1-1 Service Act (911 Act), doesn't authorize the counties to collect 911 charges from telcos, Comcast argued. “The 911 Act does not create a right of action against service suppliers for unpaid 911 charges and most certainly does not enable an action against suppliers to collect from them 911 charges that have not been billed,” it said. “The Counties ask this Court to manufacture from wholecloth [sic] a right of action that does not exist under the 911 Act and a remedy that the 911 Act does not allow. The law is clear that their complaint must be dismissed.” The counties’ 911 complaint is one of a spate of lawsuits lately facing telecom providers, said Comcast. “This lawsuit is one of over a dozen lawsuits filed by Cobb and Gwinnett Counties. It also mirrors more than a dozen other, similar lawsuits filed by or on behalf of local governments across the nation.” Comcast said the source of all the complaints is consulting firm Expert Discovery, which “presents itself as an ‘auditor’ of telephone service providers and works on a contingent fee basis.” Expert Discovery didn’t comment.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., pressed FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on whether the agency played a role in the recent creation of the NG911 NOW Coalition and on how his office handles the potential discussion of nonpublic information with members of the news media and other officials. He sent the letter Friday and requested answers to several questions by April 4. The FCC received the letter and is reviewing it, said an agency spokesman, declining further comment.
CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association were joined by the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Incompas in a joint letter to the FCC raising concerns about the wireless implications of the agency’s proposed Lifeline rules (see 1603170044). Parts of the proposed order “appear to ignore technological and market characteristics of providing mobile wireless voice and broadband service to low-income consumers,” the groups told the FCC. “If adopted, these proposals will disrupt successful aspects of the Lifeline program, hinder the ability of mobile wireless providers to offer services, and harm millions of low-income consumers who depend on Lifeline support.” By requiring that only mobile Lifeline plans offer unlimited voice minutes by December, “the Commission will substantially increase the prices that eligible low-income consumers must pay to connect with educational, health, occupational and public safety services, including 9-1-1, through mobile wireless voice services,” the groups said. No wireless carrier offers unlimited voice minutes for the $9.25 per month in support from the Lifeline program, they said. The FCC “will effectively reverse a long-standing policy against requiring co-payments and put Lifeline service out of reach from low- income consumers that lack the disposable income or banking capabilities to make a monthly payment,” the groups said. The FCC has tried to avoid flash cuts and disruption in reforming other parts of USF, the groups said. In contrast, “the Commission’s Lifeline reform approach will impose significant changes on low-income consumers by December of this year, with more significant changes each year for three years,” the groups said. An FCC spokesman earlier defended the agency’s approach. He said proposed minimum standards “are not phasing out voice from the Lifeline program, but rather are phasing in broadband as an essential element of any Lifeline service.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced S-2553 Thursday, also known as Kari’s Law and intended “to require multi-line telephone systems to have a default configuration that permits users to directly initiate a call to 9-1-1 without dialing any additional digit, code, prefix, or post-fix,” its title said. The bill included several co-sponsors -- Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. Kari Hunt was a woman murdered in 2013 in Texas as her daughter tried unsuccessfully to call 911 from their hotel room. “Through this bill, we can save lives and ensure something like this never happens again,” Fischer said in a statement Friday. The bill is referred to the Commerce Committee. Fischer posted the bill text. House lawmakers introduced such legislation in December (see 1512030048). FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai lauded the legislation. “Anyone who dials 911 expects and deserves to reach someone who can help in a time of need,” said Pai.
APCO urged the FCC to take prompt action to sunset a requirement that retired handsets, known as non-service-initialized (NSI) devices, still be able to connect to 911. APCO cited a November filing by CTIA in which the wireless association said no one has a count on how many 2G phones are still in circulation and are being used by some as a way of calling 911 in an emergency. CTIA estimated as many as 136 million 2G handsets are still in circulation, but will no longer be able to contact 2G at some point as carriers shut down their 2G networks. That dynamic is important, APCO said. “Reduced NSI access to 9-1-1 resulting from technology retirements will only worsen as carriers shut down 2G, and then 3G networks,” the filing said. “To address this situation, it should be the wireless industry, not [911 call centers], that leads efforts to educate affected consumers. The carriers should be responsible for managing expectations related to their networks, and their responsibility includes educating all affected parties, not just their remaining subscribers.” APCO officials said they met with Public Safety Bureau staff to discuss the problem. National Emergency Number Association officials reported on a separate meeting with bureau staffers on the issue. “NENA’s representatives stressed the extreme importance of solving the NSI problem on a short timeframe,” NENA said. “We explained that the cost burden to Public Safety Answering Points from the added equipment, telecommunications services, and personnel required to handle the flood of NSI calls -- most of which do not relate to actual emergencies -- has become unsustainable.” The filings were posted in docket 08-51. CTIA did not comment.
CTIA confirms hiring Lisa McCabe, ex-Satellite Broadcasting & Communications Association, as director-state legislative affairs ... Navigant hires Bob Anderson, cybersecurity expert and ex-FBI, as managing director-Global Legal Technology Solutions practice ... Council on Foreign Relations names Robert Litan, economist and lawyer who also is at the Korein Tillery law firm, as adjunct senior fellow, Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies ... at House Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee, Paul Edattel moves to chief counsel as Clay Alspach leaves; Josh Trent promoted to deputy chief counsel; Tim Pataki elevated to director-member services ... American Intellectual Property Law Association hires Chen Wang, ex-DuPont, as deputy executive director-regulatory affairs, effective Jan. 18.