FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked Congress Tuesday to reauthorize FCC auction authority, set to expire Sept. 30, and allow the agency to use auction funds to pay for improvements to 911. Speaking at an event celebrating the 10th anniversary of FirstNet, Rosenworcel said “it’s time to do something similar for 911.” Rosenworcel conceded getting such legislation through Congress won’t be easy.
Wireless issues top APCO's 2022 regulatory priorities, the group posted Thursday. Improving location accuracy for wireless calls to 911 leads the list, followed by protecting public safety use of the 6 GHz band and revising rules for 4.9 GHz, said Chief Counsel Jeff Cohen. Securing “major federal funding to implement Next Generation 9-1-1 nationwide” topped legislative priorities.
Jenner & Block elects lawyers to the partnership, including Jacob Tracer, member of Content, Media and Entertainment Practice focusing on "intellectual property and complex commercial disputes," and Camillie Landron, member of Communications, Internet and Technology Practice, working on FCC spectrum and other telecom issues and with the "space and satellite industries."
National Emergency Number Association CEO Brian Fontes urged the Senate Monday to restore “full funding” for next-generation 911 tech upgrades when it takes up the House-passed Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package. The HR-5376 version passed last week (see 2111190042) includes $490 million for NG-911. That’s less than 5% of the $10 billion the House Commerce Committee proposed in September (see 2109140063); $470 million would go to tech upgrades and $20 million for NTIA to administer the program. The measure also allocates $1 million for NTIA to set up a Public Safety NG-911 Advisory Board. That money would represent “the largest federal investment in 9-1-1 in history” and “we appreciate that,” Fontes said in a statement. “However, it is less than” what House Commerce sought and “less than 4% of the $12 billion” NTIA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommended in 2018.
Telecom-focused Democrats told us they hope to limit any cuts to proposed next-generation 911 and broadband money in a final version of a budget reconciliation package and believe much depends on what negotiators decide on as an overall top-line. Legislators and lobbyists see the $10 billion for NG-911 and $4 billion for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund in the House Commerce Committee’s section of the Build Back Better Act reconciliation measure (see 2109140063) as the ceiling for telecom money rather than the floor.
The FCC 911 fee diversion strike force voted unanimously Friday during a virtual meeting to approve its final report as written. It will be sent to Congress and covers the impacts of and recommendations to fee transfers. The document is mandated by the Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act (see 2108020051). All but two of the group’s members participated.
House Commerce Committee Republicans are unlikely to make the $4 billion in broadband money included in committee Democrats’ portion of the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package a centerpiece of their opposition to the measure but are expected to file at least some amendments to it, Capitol Hill aides and lobbyists told us. The legislation includes $10 billion for next-generation 911 tech upgrades, $1 billion to fund a new FTC privacy bureau and authorizes an FCC auction of at least 200 MHz of spectrum on the 3.1-3.45 GHz band, as expected (see 2109090067). House Commerce said it will begin marking up the measure at 11 a.m. EDT Monday in 2123 Rayburn.
New Orleans and nearby Louisiana parishes faced 911 outages Monday after Hurricane Ida hit, local authorities reported. Ida caused “significant impacts” to AT&T's Louisiana network due to “massive power outages and storm damage,” the carrier said Monday. The FCC disaster information reporting system (DIRS) was activated Sunday for affected counties in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Staffers were deployed “to assess the post-landfall impact to communications networks and to assist in efforts to restore service as quickly as possible,” acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Saturday before landfall: “We know the reality of the danger from this kind of hurricane all too well.”
AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon agreed to start providing vertical-location information where available on all calls to 911 nationwide within seven days, to implement compliance plans, and to each pay a $100,000 fine, the FCC said Thursday. Public safety groups applauded the action. The agency's two Republican members were upset over process and technological issues.
Ossia wireless power firm taps Jim Cottrell, ex-HP, to lead regulatory efforts as senior director-regulatory compliance ... Comcast adds Toni Beck, ex-NextDecade, as vice president-external affairs, Houston Region ... Liberty Global and Digital Colony creating AtlasEdge Data Centres in transaction they expect to close in Q3, with industry executive Josh Joshi to be AtlasEdge executive chairman ... Hearst Television promotes Andrew Vrees to president-general manager, WMUR-TV Manchester, New Hampshire, succeeding Jeff Bartlett, retiring this summer.