The House Communications Subcommittee postponed its planned Friday hearing on the 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424) and two other public safety-related bills after House Republican leadership moved to cancel planned Friday floor votes ahead of expected landfall of Hurricane Florence (see 1809130042). The subcommittee didn't provide details Thursday on a makeup date for the hearing (see 1809070050), which also would have examined the National Non-Emergency Mobile Number Act (HR-5700) and Anti-Swatting Act (HR-6003). HR-5700 would direct the FCC to create a unified wireless number for critical nonemergency situations on U.S. highways (see 1805090033). HR-6003 would increase criminal penalties against individuals who intentionally transmit false or misleading caller ID information to public safety answering points with the aim of triggering emergency response. HR-6424 would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money (see 1808170023). Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Department of Public Safety Communications Division Head James Curry's written testimony indicated he would have testified in support of HR-6424. Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Information Office Director Paul Starks had been expected to testify in support of HR-6003.
The FCC doesn’t need to impose additional reporting requirements on emergency alert system participants to combat false alerts, said NAB, CTIA, NCTA and the American Cable Association in docket 15-94. A few local governments and public TV interests disagreed.
The FCC made preparations for Hurricane Florence and has staff “in the field” in anticipation of the East Coast landfall, public notices and officials' tweets said Tuesday. “Staff are now in the field preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Florence, and here in DC we are working closely with our federal partners to get ready for response and recovery efforts,” tweeted Matthew Berry, chief of staff to Chairman Ajit Pai.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both D-Calif., asked the FCC Thursday night to investigate whether Verizon's throttling of service to Santa Clara County firefighters during the largest fire in California history (see 1808220059 and 1808240039) violated rules. A probe should center on whether rules requiring ISPs “publicly disclose information about their 'network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms'” of service plans were violated, the senators wrote Chairman Ajit Pai. They pressed Verizon and three other top U.S. wireless carriers for information by Sept. 21 on first responders' data access during emergencies and unlimited data plan policies. The firefighters “may have been told that their plan was ‘unlimited,’ only because they could continue to purchase more data once they hit their data caps,” the senators wrote Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “While we appreciate that Verizon has made a promise to lift data caps on its public safety customers in the event of a future disaster, we would like to know more about how this came about ... [and] plans to ensure that it won’t happen again.” This is “an opportunity for all service providers to commit to being transparent with public safety customers,” the senators wrote to Sprint CEO Michel Combes, T-Mobile CEO John Legere and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. "We've long been the nation's premier provider of communication services for First responders and the greater public safety community," a Verizon spokesman emailed. "For decades we've been the go to choice for that market and we're highly confident that we will continue to be in the years to come." FirstNet “does not throttle subscribers anywhere,” an AT&T spokesman emailed. “FirstNet gives public safety the capabilities they need with the affordability they require.” Sprint received the letter and intends “to respond as requested,” a spokeswoman said. The FCC and T-Mobile didn't comment Friday.
The House Communications Subcommittee plans a Friday hearing on the National Non-Emergency Mobile Number Act (HR-5700), Anti-Swatting Act (HR-6003) and 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424). The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn, the Commerce Committee said. HR-5700 would direct the FCC to create a unified wireless number for critical nonemergency situations on U.S. highways (see 1805090033). HR-6003, previously considered in 2016 (see 1604280044), would increase criminal penalties against individuals who intentionally transmit false or misleading caller ID information to public safety answering points with the aim of triggering emergency response. HR-6424 would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money (see 1808170023).
Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, both D-Calif., asked the FCC Thursday night to investigate whether Verizon's throttling of service to Santa Clara County firefighters during the largest fire in California history (see 1808220059 and 1808240039) violated rules. A probe should center on whether rules requiring ISPs “publicly disclose information about their 'network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms'” of service plans were violated, the senators wrote Chairman Ajit Pai. They pressed Verizon and three other top U.S. wireless carriers for information by Sept. 21 on first responders' data access during emergencies and unlimited data plan policies. The firefighters “may have been told that their plan was ‘unlimited,’ only because they could continue to purchase more data once they hit their data caps,” the senators wrote Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. “While we appreciate that Verizon has made a promise to lift data caps on its public safety customers in the event of a future disaster, we would like to know more about how this came about ... [and] plans to ensure that it won’t happen again.” This is “an opportunity for all service providers to commit to being transparent with public safety customers,” the senators wrote to Sprint CEO Michel Combes, T-Mobile CEO John Legere and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. "We've long been the nation's premier provider of communication services for First responders and the greater public safety community," a Verizon spokesman emailed. "For decades we've been the go to choice for that market and we're highly confident that we will continue to be in the years to come." FirstNet “does not throttle subscribers anywhere,” an AT&T spokesman emailed. “FirstNet gives public safety the capabilities they need with the affordability they require.” Sprint received the letter and intends “to respond as requested,” a spokeswoman said. The FCC and T-Mobile didn't comment Friday.
Local government officials warned concerns continue over wireless 911 location accuracy, at an NG911 Institute lunch Wednesday. Meanwhile, CTIA said the four nationwide wireless providers -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon -- are adding new location-based tools to existing wireless 911 location technologies starting this year.
Sanmina CEO Bob Eulau resigns, board member Michael Clarke replaces him, effective Oct. 1; Executive Chairman Jure Sola leads company in interim ... Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies appoints from Comtech Kim Robert Scovill as executive director, succeeding George Rice ... CBS taps Philip Wiser, ex-Hearst, as chief technology officer ... Andreessen Horowitz hires Angela Strange, ex-Google, as general partner.
FCC Republicans Ajit Pai, Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr have voted together the vast majority of the time. Carr partially dissented once and has been mostly in step with Pai since he became a member a year ago. O’Rielly, a commissioner throughout Pai's chairmanship, has disagreed more, based on our review. O’Rielly has had partial dissents 12 times and a full dissent once.
FCC Republicans Ajit Pai, Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr have voted together the vast majority of the time. Carr partially dissented once and has been mostly in step with Pai since he became a member a year ago. O’Rielly, a commissioner throughout Pai's chairmanship, has disagreed more, based on our review. O’Rielly has had partial dissents 12 times and a full dissent once.