SAN FRANCISCO -- State agencies are working to address vulnerabilities in Next-Generation 911 (NG-911) and text-to-911 even as they advance deployment of the technologies, state officials said Tuesday. The April 2014 multi-state 911 outage is the latest example of the “accelerating” trend of 911 outages caused by increasingly advanced 911 technologies, said FCC Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth during a panel discussion at a NARUC conference. The Bureau released a report in October that found a “preventable software error” at a 911 call processing center in Englewood, Colorado, was responsible for the outage (see 1410170057).
Top telecom issues set for discussion at NARUC’s annual meeting this week in San Francisco include states’ authority under Communications Act Section 706, 911 reliability, the USF contribution base and municipal broadband, NARUC members said in interviews.
Going into more detail about the issues he sees facing a Title II approach than he has said publicly, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told public interest advocates that the agency would have to grapple with its legal authority to impose net neutrality rules on wireless, given a section of the Communications Act that some say prohibits treating mobile as common carriers, said three people who attended the Nov. 10 meeting. Wheeler also raised questions about the impact reclassification would have on privacy, according to the attendees, as well as an issue commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Ajit Pai brought up Friday at a Free State Foundation panel discussion on net neutrality: Would broadband providers have to begin paying into the USF?
The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) said Wednesday that it’s delaying a decision on its review of the Comcast/Time Warner Cable (TWC) deal to allow “additional time to analyze and digest” issues related to the deal. The commission had been set to vote Thursday on Comcast/TWC and the associated Charter license swap, with the focus remaining on what public interest concessions the PSC might attach to its expected approval of the deal. The PSC said it had accepted a staff request to delay a final vote on the review “given the depth and breadth of the public record and the importance of the issues presented.” Parties in the New York PSC review have been engaged in an ongoing dispute over document confidentiality that had also been an issue at the FCC and with the California Public Utilities Commission (see 1410230045), though a PSC spokesman had previously expressed confidence the commission would move ahead with a vote.
NAB filed comments Wednesday in support of various petitions for reconsideration by broadcasters urging the agency to make sure broadcasters don’t pay a price if they're forcibly relocated if they don’t sell their licenses in the TV incentive auction. Some 31 parties filed recon petitions on the order in September (see 1409170044). CTIA also filed comments Wednesday, opposing some petitions for reconsideration while supporting others.
A court-ordered emergency stay preventing the FCC from releasing confidential programming and retransmission consent contract information to participants in the AT&T/DirecTV and Comcast/Time Warner transaction proceedings is likely to be granted by Monday, several communications attorneys involved in the proceedings told us. In an order issued Nov. 10 rejecting two applications for review and two emergency stay requests (see 1411070048) from a group of content companies that includes 21st Century Fox, CBS, Viacom and Disney, the FCC established Monday, Nov. 17 as the day it would release the video programming confidential information (VPCI) to outside counsel who have filed for confidential access.
President Barack Obama’s statement Monday in favor of reclassifying broadband as a Title II Communications Act service (see 1411100033) sent the FCC scrambling to rewrite an order that had been expected to get a vote at the commission’s Dec. 11 meeting, said industry and agency officials. Even before the delays for reworking the rules, the FCC likely faced a long road as it partially reclassifies broadband. It remains unclear when an order will take effect and whether the Obama administration will be in office to promulgate new rules if the next version is also overturned in federal court, said agency and FCC officials.
Recent incidents of illegal use of the emergency alert system tones warrant more industry focus on a fix to flag such messages, EAS experts said. The FCC Public Safety Bureau released public notices Friday on the impact of false EAS alerts, and how broadcasters, cable systems, DBS systems and others are faring with recommendations for EAS system security. False EAS tones aren’t very common, but their occurrence points to flaws in the system and equipment that must be addressed ahead of the next nationwide EAS test, EAS professionals said.
Following President Barack Obama’s backing Monday of reclassification, (see 1411100033) it was unclear how Chairman Tom Wheeler would proceed. In at least two meetings Monday with those involved in the net neutrality debate, Wheeler focused on some difficult issues involved in a Title II Communications Act approach, officials involved in the meetings told us. One said Wheeler said the agency was grappling with how to deal with the issues. But he “seems dug in” with his focus on Title II’s problems “as opposed to the obvious benefits,” said a public interest official involved in one of the meetings.
FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler likely faces more congressional oversight after Republicans won full control of Congress Tuesday. But it's unclear whether the new Congress will have much effect on FCC decision-making, especially on net neutrality, said Washington insiders, including former FCC officials. Industry officials have speculated Wheeler may seek a net neutrality vote on an order in December, before the new Congress is seated (see 1410270055).