A Utah Senate panel advanced a public safety bill including a provision allowing agencies to create a public safety answering point (PSAP) to provide 911 service to noncontiguous areas. The Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Committee voted unanimously for SB-212 at a livestreamed meeting Thursday. Also, the bill would increase how much money may be distributed to qualifying PSAPs.
The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) endorsed proposals in an NPRM on more precisely routing wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points (see 2212210047). Comments are due Thursday in docket 18-64. The group “broadly supports” the implementation and use of location-based routing tech and “a more rapid implementation of [next-generation] 911 capabilities that often occur concurrently,” iCERT said: “Implementation of such technologies will dramatically improve emergency response efforts, and we appreciate the efforts of the FCC to facilitate broader implementation of both.”
Comments are due Feb. 16, replies March 20, on an FCC NPRM on proposed rules to more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing, said a Tuesday Federal Register notice. Commissioners approved the NPRM in December (see 2212210047).
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel wants improved ability to route calls and texts made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to local call centers (see 2207150036), but mental health and emergency management stakeholders say more enhanced capabilities to know exactly where calls are being placed from could be complicated by a sizable policy split in the mental health community on privacy.
The FCC’s NPRM on more precisely routing wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing (LBR), approved 4-0 Wednesday (see 2212210047), was largely the same as the draft. The NPRM was posted Thursday. One change of note is that several questions were tweaked to seek information on covered text providers, in addition to commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers. “Should we require CMRS and covered text providers to report information on misrouted 911 calls and texts?” the NPRM asks: “We also seek information on planned or expended costs by CMRS providers and covered text providers that have voluntarily implemented or plan to implement location-based routing to any extent on their networks.” Among other tweaks, the NPRM now notes that conclusions on cost estimates, based on data from T-Mobile, are only tentative. “T-Mobile states that it deployed location-based routing to some PSAPs and not others, so we rely on this statement in tentatively concluding that CMRS providers implement location-based routing at the PSAP level and CMRS providers incur material costs on a per-PSAP basis,” the NPRM says. “We seek comment on this tentative conclusion.” Only Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Geoffrey Starks had written statements. Comments are due 30 days after Federal Register publication, replies 30 days after that.
All four FCC commissioners expressed support Wednesday for proposed rules to more precisely route wireless 911 calls and texts to public safety answering points through location-based routing (LBR). The NPRM wasn’t controversial while before commissioners, though industry is expected to weigh in during the comment period (see 2212200064).
The Senate appeared poised to pass as soon as Wednesday an FY 2023 appropriations omnibus package that includes another short-term extension of the FCC’s spectrum auction authority, though the situation remained fluid late that afternoon amid continued wrangling over potential votes on amendments to the measure. Lawmakers agreed to attach a renewal the FCC’s remit through March 9, after an objection from Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., derailed a negotiated deal to include a modified version of the chamber's version of the Spectrum Innovation Act (S-4117) and other related measures (see 2212200077).
Emergency SOS service via satellite on the iPhone 14 is now available in France, Germany, Ireland and the U.K., Apple said Tuesday. The service, employing Globalstar's satellite network, went live in November (see 2211150058). Apple said the handsets connect directly to satellites through custom components and software, while users get routed to relay centers that contact public safety answering points on their behalf.
The FCC’s final order approving new outage reporting rules, approved 4-0 Thursday (see 2211170051), addresses at length concerns raised by CTIA and other industry commenters, based on a side-by-side comparison with the draft order. Because of a field hearing after the commissioners meeting Thursday, FCC staff didn’t have a press briefing on changes to the items while on the 10th floor. The order was released Friday.
FCC commissioners approved rules to improve the delivery of outage information to public safety answering points 4-0 Thursday, largely as circulated by Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Last week, APCO, CTIA, wireless carriers, ATIS and others sought a few changes to the draft order (see 2211140072). The order was approved before commissioners held a virtual field hearing on other potential changes that could be made to disaster-related rules (see 2211170079).