APCO Chief Counsel Jeff Cohen urged the FCC to “proceed as soon as possible” on rules requiring location-based routing for wireless calls to 911 (see 2309110042), in a meeting with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Cohen also raised related rules on next-generation 911 communications, said a filing posted Monday in docket 21-479. “The Commission must approach rules for NG9-1-1 in a manner that promotes a common understanding of the public safety community’s goals and expectations for NG9-1-1 and does not conflict with the comprehensive vision and definitions outlined in pending federal NG9-1-1 funding legislation,” APCO said: “The single most important step the Commission can take would be to adopt requirements for achieving interoperability between originating service providers and 9-1-1 service providers, and among 9-1-1 service providers.”
Colorado should fund next-generation 911 (NG-911) with $1.6 million remaining from a 2022-retired enforcement mechanism called the Colorado Performance Assurance Plan (CPAP), commenters said Friday at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. However, groups disagreed on which nonprofit should administer funds tagged for emergency services.
Industry continued to raise concerns on an FCC proposal on rules to speed a move to next-generation 911 and to call for flexibility, while public safety groups generally supported the agency’s proposed approach, per reply comments posted Monday in docket 21-479. The replies were consistent with initial comments last month (see 2308100025).
The National Association of State 911 Administrators warned the FCC that moving to next-generation 911 will be complicated, in comments on an NPRM commissioners approved 4-0 in June (see 2306080043). The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC is on the right track with the NPRM. Comments were due at the FCC Wednesday in docket 21-479. The notice followed a NASNA petition seeking a rulemaking or notice of inquiry to fully implement NG911 (see 2110190066 and 2201200043).
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday unanimously advanced its version of a FY 2024 federal spending bill that proposes increased annual funding for the FCC and FTC. The House Appropriations Committee voted 34-26 that afternoon to advance the Financial Services Subcommittee's FY24 spending bill, which would decrease funding for both agencies. The House Appropriations Commerce, Justice and Science and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies subcommittees plan to mark up their FY24 spending bills Friday with proposals to decrease funding to NTIA and other tech-related Commerce Department agencies and end CPB’s traditional “two-year advance funding status” altogether.
APCO named Melvin Maier its new CEO Friday, replacing Derek Poarch, former FCC Public Safety Bureau chief who has led the group since 2011. Maier was APCO chief technology officer and previously was vice chair of the FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee. He's current chair of the Next Generation 9-1-1 Coalition. Maier joined APCO last year, after 32 years in law enforcement, most recently as a captain and chief of public safety communications for the Oakland County, Michigan, Sheriff’s Office. APCO said it did “an exhaustive and competitive nationwide search involving more than 200 applicants.” Poarch will stay on “over the next several months to ensure a smooth transition” and will remain CEO until he leaves. Maier becomes executive director immediately and will add the CEO title when Poarch departs, APCO said. Poarch and his team have grown APCO "in monumental and unprecedented ways," said Angela Batey, APCO president and a public safety instructor in Georgia.
APCO urged the FCC to reject a March petition by the Competitive Carriers Association seeking tweaks to the FCC’s outage reporting rules, approved 4-0 by commissioners last year (see 2211170051). Comments were due Monday (see 2306140057). “Specifically, APCO opposes CCA’s request that the Commission reconsider certain aspects of the 30-minute deadline for originating service providers (OSPs) to make initial notifications to emergency communications centers (ECCs) of outages impacting 9-1-1 service,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 15-80. “CCA’s concerns have been fully considered and rejected” by the FCC “and its Petition fails to present any material error, omission, or reason warranting reconsideration.”
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.