The FCC approved 4-0 NPRMs on expediting the transition to next-generation 911 and giving consumers more choice on the robocalls and robotexts they’ll receive (see 2305180069). Both were approved with limited comments from commissioners.
An Ohio Senate panel supported upgrading to next-generation 911. The Financial Institutions and Technology Committee voted 4-0 Tuesday for SB-50. Ohio’s administrative services department could incur $10.3 million in yearly expenses to develop and maintain the NG-911 network, while counties may have to pay “several hundreds of thousands of dollars” to bring 911 systems into compliance, said a fiscal note: Costs might be fully offset by a NG-911 fee on landline, wireless and other communications services. The bill would replace the current 25-cents monthly wireless 911 fee with a 64-cents charge on communications services including landlines and VoIP. The bill would keep the current charge for prepaid wireless services, which is 0.005 percent of the retail sale price. “Expansion of the NG 9-1-1 fee to include communications services not currently subject to the fee is expected to increase the amount of revenue collected significantly,” the fiscal note said. The current wireless-only 911 charge collected about $25 million yearly on average over the past five years, it said. With the proposed larger and more broadly applied fee, “it is conceivable that revenue … could increase by tens of millions per year.”
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., threw a wrench in Senate prospects for quickly passing a new proposal from House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., to restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through June 30 (HR-3345) before the House Communications Subcommittee unanimously advanced it during a Wednesday markup session. The mandate expired in early March after Rounds objected to Senate leaders' bid to pass a House-cleared bill to extend the mandate through May 19 (HR-1108) by unanimous consent (see 2303090074). Rounds told us Tuesday he still won't allow UC passage of any bill to restore the FCC's remit unless it goes through Sept. 30 to give DOD time to complete a study of its systems on the 3.1-3.45 GHz band.
A proposed Texas House constitutional amendment on creating a state broadband fund will go to the Senate floor, but senators are making changes that would require House agreement. The Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously at a livestreamed hearing Monday on substitutes to HJR-125 and on an accompanying bill (HB-9) that passed the House by wide margins last month (see 2304270056). Substitute text wasn’t immediately available Monday. Sen. Robert Nichols (R) supported the bills but said he wants to work with sponsors on adding language to require a local matching requirement. “People treat money better when they have a little skin in the game,” said Nichols, saying even a 10% local match would help. AT&T supports the proposal to create a "comprehensive funding mechanism that takes a holistic approach,” David Tate, retired vice president-legal affairs, testified at the hearing. State funding now is important, with Texas not due to receive federal money until 2025 from NTIA’s broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, said Texas Cable Association President Walt Baum. But the Taxpayers Protection Alliance thinks making residents pay for a $5 billion fund is a “waste of money and fiscally irresponsible.” Texas 9-1-1 Alliance Chairman Chip VanSteenberg supports the bill including funding for next-generation 911. The existing 50-cent 911 surcharge on phone bills hasn’t kept up with rising costs, he said.
CTIA urged the FCC to put the onus on covered service providers (CSPs) rather than originating service providers (OSPs) if the agency imposes 988 outage reporting obligations, the subject of a January NPRM (see 2301040056). “As 988 communications are routed centrally to a single, nationwide response point, unlike 911 communications, which are routed to local Public Safety Answering Points, it is unclear how OSPs could provide actionable information about local outages to the nationwide 988 Lifeline or other stakeholders,” CTIA said, in comments posted Tuesday in docket 23-5. AT&T agreed rules “must reflect the fundamental differences in service architecture between 911 and 988.” Competitive Carriers Association members don’t “oppose some level of 988 outage reporting and notification,” but also don’t “support duplicative or potentially confusing efforts,” CCA said: If the FCC imposes a 988 outage notification requirement on OSPs, “in many cases, a 30-minute timeframe would be unreasonable and unrealistic, particularly for OSPs utilizing vendors for 988 solutions. Any 988 outage reporting requirement should enable realistic compliance.” The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC rightly proposes rules based on 911 outage reporting requirements approved last year (see 2211170051). The FCC should also require that PSAPs be alerted of 988 outages, NENA said: “If 988 service is not available to a person having a mental health crisis, and they do not have knowledge of an alternative means such as dedicated online chat services, then they may decide to dial 9-1-1 instead.” The group said the 988 system should plan to eventually migrate to next-generation 911 technologies “as a matter of building a more reliable, equitable life-saving service for people with mental health crises.”
Texas House members showed wide support for creating a state fund for broadband infrastructure this week, voting 137-7 for a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday on its second reading. On Thursday, the Senate received HJR-125 and the House voted 140-8 for companion bill HB-9 on third and final reading. Rural carriers applauded the House for passing the measures, which they said would help fill gaps from the state not fully funding Texas USF. “We will now shift our focus to the Senate where we hope to find similar support,” said Texas Telephone Association (TTA) President Mark Seale.
Reps. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., refiled the Next Generation 911 Act Friday in a bid to boost emergency service tech upgrades. The bill, which formed the basis for NG-911 language leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees included in the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act proposal they failed to attach in December to the FY 2023 omnibus appropriations measure (see 2212190069), would allocate $15 billion for the tech upgrades. “Over 85 percent of Americans now own a smartphone, and our 9-1-1 call centers aren’t equipped with the most up-to-date technology to respond to text messages or images from smartphones,” Eshoo said. “Our bill provides much needed funding for states and local communities to bring their 9-1-1 infrastructure into the 21st Century.” NG-911 “will begin saving lives in our communities the moment it is deployed,” Hudson said. The measure “would be a vital step in ensuring that all states and communities have access to the benefits of NG9-1-1, regardless of zip code,” said National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes, saying NENA will "work with all members of Congress to ensure this important legislation is passed and fully funded as soon as possible.” Eshoo’s office also cited support from the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies and Public Safety Next Generation 9-1-1 Coalition.
Wireless industry commenters and public safety groups agreed on the need for some flexibility, in reply comments on an FCC proposal that carriers more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing (LBR). Disagreements remain on some implementation details (see 2302170044). Comments were posted Monday and Tuesday on an NPRM commissioners approved 4-0 in December (see 2212210047).
The West Virginia Public Service Commission should approve a 911 pact between Frontier Communications and the state’s Morgan County, the company and county said Thursday. To resolve the county’s complaint, Frontier agreed to “various acts regarding redundant or diverse 9-1-1 circuits or their alternatives between the Berkeley Springs and Paw Paw exchanges,” said the joint petition in docket 22-0686-T-C.
Groups representing small carriers warned of timing problems and financial hardships for their members from proposed rules to more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing (LBR), in comments on an NPRM commissioners approved 4-0 in December (see 2212210047). But public safety groups urged the FCC to act as soon as possible. The commission proposed to require nationwide providers to deploy LBR within six months from the effective date of final rules, while smaller carriers would get 18 months.