As the FCC considers the proposals in a further rulemaking on real-time text, it should ensure the rules “remain grounded in feasibility, subject to the statutory limitations on what is achievable and readily achievable,” T-Mobile replied. “T-Mobile encourages the Commission to reject calls for expanding the scope of the backwards compatibility obligation as well as to refrain from adopting new and onerous mandates on carriers.” The company said, for example, RTT can't be compatible with short-message service texting. “SMS and RTT are two entirely different communications protocols -- SMS is a best-effort, store-and-forward service, while RTT is a session-based, two-way communication similar to voice calling,” the carrier said. “Making RTT backwards compatible with SMS is not feasible.” The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions agreed. “RTT and SMS are two different technologies -- end-users make a choice regarding which technology to use and there is no way for service providers to automatically revert messages sent using one technology to another,” ATIS replied. “An RTT message therefore cannot automatically fall back to SMS.” The National Emergency Number Association in general supported an FCC proposal that it set a sunset date of 2021 for traditional text telephony (TTY), which RTT is replacing. “The Commission should carefully track data trends among consumers, access network providers, originating service providers (such as over-the-top RTT services), and [public safety answering points],” NENA wrote. “If it appears, closer to the tentative sunset date, that any one of these important constituencies has not yet adequately transitioned to technologies and business practices that natively support RTT, the Commission should be prepared to postpone the sunset for a limited time.” In December, the FCC approved an order on a common standard for the transition from TTY to RTT and asked a number of questions in an FNPRM (see 1612150048). Replies were due Friday in docket 16-145.
Witnesses testifying Wednesday on Next Generation-911 before the House Communications Subcommittee are National Emergency Number Association Director-Governmental Affairs Trey Forgety, Indiana Statewide 911 Board Executive Director Barry Ritter, Texas A&M University Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center Director Walt Magnussen, West Safety Services Vice President Mary Boyd and Steve Souder, who retired last year from leading Virginia’s Fairfax County 911 system. A GOP memo said that “several barriers remain to the realization of nationwide NG911,” citing funding concerns: “Costs of the transition to NG911 are significant, [but] an authoritative comprehensive cost study has not been produced to date. Congress directed the ICO [the E911 Implementation Coordination Office] to submit a cost study within one year of the passage of the NG911 Advancement Act in 2012, but no such study has been submitted, despite bipartisan concerns over the previous administration’s delay.” Consensus is that funding is “inadequate,” with proposals on the table to “include eliminating funding inconsistencies between states, within states, and between voice delivery networks -- landline, wireless, VoIP and prepaid,” the GOP memo said. It cites governance, network security and regulatory barriers as key issues. The Democratic memo noted funding issues with NG-911. The hearing follows a debate over the i3 standard between APCO and NENA last week (see 1703240052). “That operational and transitional NG911 systems based on i3 exist is a testament to the workability and permanence of the i3 standard,” said Evelyn Bailey, executive director of the National Association of State 911 Administrators, in a statement Monday. “We are well on the way toward achieving the vision of nationwide NG911 by the end of 2020. NASNA does not support anything that would slow down and disrupt that progress.”
Advanced technologies in self-driving vehicles will help prevent deaths and injuries of thousands of people, but more testing on public roads is needed, representatives from automotive suppliers of intelligent transportation systems and products plan to say at Tuesday's House Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing. They will argue that some state and federal laws hinder such testing. A witness for an insurance-funded auto safety group will say more evaluation of such technologies will be needed to prove their value.
Advanced technologies in self-driving vehicles will help prevent deaths and injuries of thousands of people, but more testing on public roads is needed, representatives from automotive suppliers of intelligent transportation systems and products plan to say at Tuesday's House Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing. They will argue that some state and federal laws hinder such testing. A witness for an insurance-funded auto safety group will say more evaluation of such technologies will be needed to prove their value.
Advanced technologies in self-driving vehicles will help prevent deaths and injuries of thousands of people, but more testing on public roads is needed, representatives from automotive suppliers of intelligent transportation systems and products plan to say at Tuesday's House Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing. They will argue that some state and federal laws hinder such testing. A witness for an insurance-funded auto safety group will say more evaluation of such technologies will be needed to prove their value.
APCO’s CEO is pleased with several signs from the National Emergency Number Association board, he told us. NENA took aim in a statement last week at the way APCO characterized language in a draft Senate NG-911 bill from Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. (see 1702280062 and 1703060020). Both groups said they back the draft legislation. NENA cited a message on the draft Senate bill that APCO sent to members March 17 that “attempts to cast doubt on NENA’s NG9-1-1 architecture standard, Detailed Functional and Interface Standards for the NENA i3 Solution,” known as i3. “APCO’s characterizations of the i3 standard are simply wrong," NENA said. "By sowing doubt about the best way forward, APCO has endangered the timely roll-out of NG9-1-1 systems for the American public whom we serve.” Now "that NENA has confirmed that i3 is incomplete and not an accredited standard, that helps to clear the record for 9-1-1 professionals and industry,” APCO CEO Derek Poarch said in a statement Friday. “I also appreciate NENA’s public commitment to finally put its i3 through the ANSI [American National Standards Institute] accreditation process to completion. It is our hope that at that point, i3 can become a build-to standard, and 9-1-1 professionals can rely upon it to ensure full interoperability.”
APCO’s CEO is pleased with several signs from the National Emergency Number Association board, he told us. NENA took aim in a statement last week at the way APCO characterized language in a draft Senate NG-911 bill from Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. (see 1702280062 and 1703060020). Both groups said they back the draft legislation. NENA cited a message on the draft Senate bill that APCO sent to members March 17 that “attempts to cast doubt on NENA’s NG9-1-1 architecture standard, Detailed Functional and Interface Standards for the NENA i3 Solution,” known as i3. “APCO’s characterizations of the i3 standard are simply wrong," NENA said. "By sowing doubt about the best way forward, APCO has endangered the timely roll-out of NG9-1-1 systems for the American public whom we serve.” Now "that NENA has confirmed that i3 is incomplete and not an accredited standard, that helps to clear the record for 9-1-1 professionals and industry,” APCO CEO Derek Poarch said in a statement Friday. “I also appreciate NENA’s public commitment to finally put its i3 through the ANSI [American National Standards Institute] accreditation process to completion. It is our hope that at that point, i3 can become a build-to standard, and 9-1-1 professionals can rely upon it to ensure full interoperability.”
The Trump administration Friday touted a series of investments that Charter Communications is making, with details of some unveiled previously. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also lauded the decisions of CEO Tom Rutledge, who joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the investments. The cable operator will invest $25 billion and now places a four-year time frame on its plan to hire 20,000 people, an ambition the company announced in 2016 (see 1602040027 and 1608090034). A spokeswoman said no schedule previously was issued.
The Trump administration Friday touted a series of investments that Charter Communications is making, with details of some unveiled previously. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also lauded the decisions of CEO Tom Rutledge, who joined President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the investments. The cable operator will invest $25 billion and now places a four-year time frame on its plan to hire 20,000 people, an ambition the company announced in 2016 (see 1602040027 and 1608090034). A spokeswoman said no schedule previously was issued.
IoT and other emerging technologies are a double-edged sword for U.S. cybersecurity, industry experts told the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday. Such technologies, if not properly secured, can be a significant cyber vulnerability for U.S. companies, particularly given the growing cyber capabilities of China and Russia, the experts said. Blockchain and other emerging technologies also could be a major boon in enhancing the U.S.' overall cybersecurity, they said. The Senate Commerce hearing, one of two Wednesday (see 1703210064), was part of committee Chairman John Thune's, R-S.D., ongoing series exploring aspects of emerging technologies, said a Senate Commerce aide.