Changing 911 technologies call for a change in behavior and federal advocacy, speakers told the National Number Emergency Association Monday. Public safety officials from around the country are gathering in Washington for the association’s 911 Goes to Washington meeting, which continues Tuesday. “We become a part of the government procedure,” said NENA Second Vice President Christy Williams of the 911 directors’ visits to Capitol Hill offices this week. She noted that more than 31 states and territories were represented at this year’s meeting. Speakers discussed the best ways to approach federal government officials as well as the challenge of text-to-911 and potential spectrum interference. (See separate report in this issue.)
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission shot down CenturyLink’s latest appeal of the PUC’s telecom deregulation order. The PUC adopted its new order in December and modified it since due to several appeals at the beginning of the year. CenturyLink asked for more changes at the beginning of March, focusing on white page directory listing obligations and how those should factor into the PUC’s effective competition rulings. “We disagree with CenturyLink’s threshold premise that maintaining regulation over ‘any’ aspect of telephone service is discriminatory and inconsistent with Commission policy,” the PUC said in its Wednesday order denying CenturyLink (http://bit.ly/10SoLBb). “The information constituting white page directory listing -- a customer’s name, address, and telephone number -- is correlated to emergency services due to its necessity to the Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database providers for the provision of 9-1-1 services and emergency notification services.” The PUC pointed to the significance of these directory listings, in contrast to CenturyLink’s arguments. “Emergency and related services are more than ‘competitive features,'” the PUC said. “They are vital to the public interest, and market forces cannot ensure the availability of basic emergency services, including 9-1-1 services, in time of need."
Last year’s derecho communications failure in the mid-Atlantic region created the need for ongoing regional assessment, said the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) in its final report on the storm and 911 failures (http://bit.ly/ZKJEcs). The review, in progress since last summer, noted the 911 outages inspired many investigations, including those by the FCC and the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and pointed to issues that state and local government officials should consider. State and local 911 authorities need to assess fully their 911 systems and review 911 laws and regulations, the report said: “The interest of the public and public safety should come first over the interest of commercial providers.” The report addressed both funding and coming technology changes: “State and local 9-1-1 authorities should work with their Legislators to ensure the funding required to support the current 9-1-1 services and future Next Generation 9-1-1 are adequate and available, and that the fees and funds collected from the citizens of their States for 9-1-1 services are dedicated and used solely for the purpose as intended for the implementation, operation and maintenance of 9-1-1 emergency telephone services and other supporting technologies,” and that they're “equitably distributed to the 9-1-1 authorities,” it said. The MWCOG should form a more permanent committee of 911 directors and “take the lead to work cooperatively in the development of a multi-year 9-1-1 strategic plan to include development and implementation of Next Generation 9-1-1,” it said. Verizon’s 911 service failed due to backup power issues and could have done better during the derecho and must do more, on an ongoing basis, to regain the trust of public safety officials, the report said. Verizon defended its activities and “acted decisively and aggressively to identify and resolve 911 issues and other areas for improvement,” said Verizon Mid-Atlantic Vice President of Network Operations Maureen Davis in a statement. She described “substantial progress,” ranging from “audits of key 911 facilities to improved communications with the public safety community -- progress that was borne out in our solid performance during and after Hurricane Sandy last fall and, most recently, last week’s winter storm that brought heavy snow and high winds to parts of the region.” Verizon has worked “actively” with the MWCOG, she added. Davis authored a Wednesday blog post (http://vz.to/Z6ygsu) outlining the telco’s efforts, such as backup power audits and diversifying its network monitoring system.
Transition to a replacement for the text telephone (TTY) system for emergency communications for the disabled should last 12 years, the FCC Emergency Access Advisory Committee’s (EAAC) TTY Transition subgroup said in a draft report. That timeline would include three years for getting the TTY replacement “commonly available,” three years until “no more legacy TTYs should be deployed,” and an additional six years until TTY support can cease, the subgroup said. That timeline can be sped up or slowed down depending on conditions in the overall transition from the public switched telephone network to Internet protocol, the subgroup said in the report. The subgroup recommended implementing the National Emergency Number Association i3Detailed Technical specification 08-003 and Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) request for comment 6443 to achieve interoperability between service providers when at least one uses IETF Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for call control. The default interoperability protocols include: IETF RFC 3261 SIP for call control, ITU-T Recommendation T.40 for real-time text presentation and IETF RFC 4103 for real-time text transport, as well as “suitable audio and wide-band audio codecs” commonly used in the implementation environment and supported by Next-Generation 911 (N-G9-1-1). For IMS, the profile specified in GSMA PRD ir.92, including its Annex B, specify a “similar set suitable” for TTY replacement, the subgroup said. That profile also recommends IETF RFC 3261 SIP for call control and IETF RFC 4103 for real-time text, but also requires 3GPP TS 26.114 IMS Multimedia Telephony Codec Considerations for audio. A “suitable combination” with video as specified in GSMA PRD ir.94 should be considered, the subgroup said. Other real-time text protocols can also be used within each service provider’s network or between service providers, provided the functional goals for TTY transition are still met and other protocols are supported as a fallback, the subgroup said. For interoperability of calls between PSTN’s TTY and the TTY replacement, the subgroup recommended placing gateways in the network -- and that calls that may contain text should automatically be routed through the gateway. Other alternatives should also be considered and further investigated, the subgroup said. Recommendation T6.3, which allows for conversion of TTY to IP-carried real-time text at the point of entry to IP networks, is the “realistic solution” for TTY access to N-G9-1-1, the subgroup said. There should be coordination with the U.S. Access Board, the Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Programs and the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, the subgroup said. TSR rules should be updated to “specifically support relay calls based on the protocols used in accessible interchange with N-G9-1-1,” including information requested in the NENA i3 technical specification, the subgroup said. Videophone and VRS service providers should implement TTY replacement features in combination with video, the subgroup said. NENA recommendations to provide 9-1-1 access to instant messaging users should be encouraged separately from TTY replacement activities “in order to provide 9-1-1 access for current users of these services related to both accessibility and general needs,” the subgroup said. The draft report includes two possible versions of a recommendation for a move toward TTY replacement in industry practice and FCC regulations, as the EAAC “could not come to an agreement” on a common version (http://bit.ly/Y5tvjC).
Rep. Anna Eshoo asked FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to “promptly consider” Progeny’s request to begin using unlicensed spectrum in the 902-928 MHz band for first responder location services. The commission is reviewing the results of field tests completed in 2011 and 2012 to ensure that Progeny’s services don’t cause unacceptable levels of interference to other users in the band. “With more than 396,000 9-1-1 calls made through wireless devices each day, the need for accurate and reliable location services is increasingly clear,” Eshoo, the California Democrat who is ranking member on the House Communications Subcommittee, wrote in a letter last month posted Tuesday to docket 11-49. “It is important that the 902-928 MHz band remain available for unlicensed devices, while ensuring that Progeny’s location service does not cause unacceptable levels of interference to unlicensed services.”
Georgia needs new 911 rules and a new 911 authority geared toward next-generation 911, Georgia Senate Bill 144 proposes. It was introduced last month and a substitute text was passed favorably out of committee this week. It’s designed to change Georgia rules “so as to create the Georgia Emergency 9-1-1 Support Authority as a body corporate and politic, an instrumentality of the state, and a public corporation; to require the authority to establish an Emergency Information Program for emergency first responders; to provide for the purposes of the authority, which purposes shall include, but not be limited to, ensuring that effective 9-1-1 service is provided to all Georgians,” according to the latest 17-page text (http://1.usa.gov/Yur1u0). The bill proposes to streamline and better coordinate many elements of a changing 911 system which is facing new concerns of funding and technology. It endeavors to help in “assisting the implementation of updated technological resources and enhanced 9-1-1 services throughout the State of Georgia, facilitating the adoption of information services for the provision of lifesaving information to first responders, auditing the payment of certain 9-1-1 fees by prepaid wireless telephone service providers to increase compliance in collection of revenues and provide fairness to those service providers already paying such fees, supporting the public interest in providing cost-efficient collection of revenues, and disbursing funds to local governments for the operation and improvement of emergency telephone 9-1-1 services; to provide for duties of the authority; to make available on a state-wide basis services and resources to local governments for improvement in emergency 9-1-1 systems,” it said. The 911 support authority would have 13 members, including one director, it said. Six of the members “shall be a mayor, a chief of police, a fire chief, a county commissioner, a sheriff, and an emergency medical services director and who shall be appointed by the Governor” and another six “experienced in and currently involved in public safety, local government, or management of emergency services, three of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Senate, and three of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives,” it said. The law, if passed, would take effect Jan. 1.
CenturyLink still isn’t happy with the telecom reform and subsequent clarifications by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission in recent months. The PUC adopted its new rules, affecting high-cost support and rulings of effective competition, in December and clarified them in February after appeals from multiple stakeholders. But on Monday, CenturyLink filed a second appeal before the PUC (http://bit.ly/14pFKr1), focusing on regulatory obligations surrounding white pages listings. “It remains appropriate to require providers to furnish name, address, and telephone number information for the Automatic Location Identification database providers for the provision of 9-1-1 services and emergency notification services, because of public safety reasons, but white pages listings should not be required of one provider among many” in areas deemed effectively competitive (ECA), CenturyLink told the PUC. “Given the competitive landscape, however, in ECAs, the Commission should no longer regulate white pages directory listings, consistent with the deregulatory policies of Part 3 regulation. Certainly, the Commission should not saddle one competitor with a unique regulatory obligation that does not apply to other market participants.” White page listings shouldn’t be considered an essential part of local telephone service but rather a competitive distinguishing feature and outside the PUC’s regulations, at least in these effectively competitive areas, the telco said.
NARUC appoints commissioners Larry Landis of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and Nikki Hall of the South Carolina Public Service Commission co-chairs of Washington Action program, replacing NARUC President Philip Jones and Commissioner Kevin Gunn of the Missouri Public Service Commission … Among new members of FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee are: Terry Hall, Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International; Jimmy Gianato, Governor’s Homeland Security Advisors Council; Timothy Loewenstein, National Association of Counties; Darryl Ackley, National Association of State Chief Information Officers; Richard Taylor, National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators; Charlie Sasser, National Association of State Technology Directors; Andrew Afflerbach, NATOA; Fuzzy Fletcher, National Congress of American Indians; Michael Varney, National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators; Scott Somers, National League of Cities; Douglas Aiken, National Public Safety Telecommunications Council … Xand Northeast U.S. data center company promotes Yatish Mishra to president and CEO and adds him to board.
Motorola Solutions is providing its PremierOne next-gen command and control platform to Prince William County, Va., it said Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bogq57). The technology will offer a “future ready, enterprise-wide incident management system that streamlines 9-1-1 workflows and intelligently correlates voice, data and multimedia information so operators can speed decision making, enhance resource tracking and management while improving citizen and officer safety” and will help agencies share information more easily, the company said. It has worked with the county since 1999. Motorola will maintain the service for five years as part of a contract with the county, it said.
Don’t require carriers to provide bounce-back messages until six months after any order mandating it, the Competitive Carriers Association told the FCC in text-to-911 replies posted Monday. “The Commission should not require carriers to send error notifications in all instances, but at this time should only require bounce-back messages when a carrier has not yet deployed text-to-911 capability on its home network in the area where the subscriber is attempting to text 911,” the CCA said (http://bit.ly/VbKsrm). Education will need to start local, and the FCC’s move to text-to-911 will need to be aware of “limitations faced by rural and regional carriers in implementing this regime (including error notifications) and do not require more of carriers than what is technically feasible,” it said. Yet speed is vital, said the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority. The FCC “should not brook the delays and game-playing by service providers that marked the transition to Wireless E9-1-1,” it said (http://bit.ly/VPRx3j). “The Commission must require that service providers implement text-to-9-1-1 without exception.” The authority supports a standard bounce-back message: “Providing a standard message when text messaging-to-9-1-1 is not available or a text message to 9-1-1 is not received will limit consumer confusion.”