The White House released a list of completed items as part of the joint U.S.-Canada "Beyond the Border" initiative. The White House press release is (here). The report is (here).
The FCC should rely on a “cooperative, standards-based approach” in developing rules for the deployment of a next-generation 911 network, Verizon and Verizon Wireless said in comments filed at the FCC. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) said rollout of a successful NG911 network will require “action at every level of government.” In November, the FCC Public Safety Bureau sought comments on a legal framework for NG911 (http://fcc.us/W6u2m7).
The EU, joining many other delegations in refusing to sign the new International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), remains “100 percent committed to an open Internet,” the European Commission said Friday. The EU worked hard to make constructive updates and revisions to the treaty to bring it up to date while keeping it within appropriate boundaries, it said. There was agreement in several important areas such as price transparency for roaming, global emergency numbers and the updating of charging and accounting arrangements for international telecom traffic, it said. But the proposal to extend the ITRs to cover Internet issues “ruptured the possible fragile compromise,” it said. The final text risked jeopardizing the Internet’s future as well as economic growth, it said. European ISPs slammed some nations for using the conference to try to advance authoritarian controls.
The EU, joining many other delegations in refusing to sign the new International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), remains “100 percent committed to an open Internet,” the European Commission said Friday. The EU worked hard to make constructive updates and revisions to the treaty to bring it up to date while keeping it within appropriate boundaries, it said. There was agreement in several important areas such as price transparency for roaming, global emergency numbers and the updating of charging and accounting arrangements for international telecom traffic, it said. But the proposal to extend the ITRs to cover Internet issues “ruptured the possible fragile compromise,” it said. The final text risked jeopardizing the Internet’s future as well as economic growth, it said. European ISPs slammed some nations for using the conference to try to advance authoritarian controls.
The FCC made the right decision Wednesday in approving a text-to-911 further rulemaking notice (CD Dec 13 p12), said groups representing the deaf and hearing impaired, in a letter to the commission released Thursday. “We stand ready to work with the FCC, industry, and public safety trade associations to meet the timelines in deployment, outreach and education, research and development, and regulatory enforcement toward achieving the promise and potential of text-to-911 emergency calling capabilities for all Americans,” the letter said. “We fully expect this process to be contributing significantly toward activation of fully accessible emergency communications capability via text, video, and/or voice as part of the Next Generation 9-1-1 initiative within the next ten years.” The groups that signed include Telecommunications for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, National Association of the Deaf and Association of Late-Deafened Adults.
Next-generation 911 will take significant, costly and long investments of time and money before the system can work, National Emergency Number Association (NENA) officials said at a Thursday USTelecom briefing. The future will spell change for regulations and the number and arrangement of 911 centers, the officials said. The U.S. “must address” NG-911 if the public switched telephone network will be sunsetted in the next few years, said NENA CEO Brian Fontes, citing the FCC’s recent push on text-to-911 and this week’s FCC Technological Advisory Council report (CD Dec 11 p2). Fontes asked USTelecom members to engage with NENA.
The FCC approved a further notice of proposed rulemaking asking a battery of questions about how the commission can best make sure that all wireless subscribers will one day be able to send emergency text messages to 911 public safety answering points. But Commissioner Robert McDowell warned that even with the agency’s actions on text-to-911, widespread ability to send emergency text messages to 911 call centers could be many years way. Last week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that the four major carriers, public safety groups and the FCC had agreed to put in place by June 30 a mechanism for sending bounce back notifications to subscribers when text-to-911 is unavailable in their area, telling them they should instead call 911 (CD Dec 10 p1). Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile also agreed to make their networks capable of transmitting texts to 911 call centers by May 15, 2014.
Virginia launched its own text-to-911 trial with Verizon Wireless in three jurisdictions. Customers in York County, and in the cities of Poquoson and Williamsburg are participating in the trial, York County said Monday (http://xrl.us/bn5p4h). Verizon Wireless Engineering Director Richard Craig noted in a statement the role of the company’s SMS911 National Gateway and described working alongside partners in York County and TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. in setting up the trial. “The York-Poquoson-Williamsburg Emergency Communications Center is the first PSAP to use the new SMS911 gateway; a significant step in making text to 911 available for PSAPs more broadly,” York County said. The deployment follows the announcement earlier this year from Verizon Wireless and TCS to make available a national text to 911 solution.
The American Legislative Exchange Council wants to keep states away from VoIP and cautions against municipally owned telecom networks. It’s eyeing a strong mix of state priorities for 2013, its telecom leaders told us, some controversial and attracting dissent. The 40-year-old organization of conservative state legislators unites industry -- including major telcos -- and public officials for discussion and to craft model legislation that states sometimes adopt. ALEC members include AT&T, CenturyLink, CTIA, Charter, NCTA, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, Time Warner and Verizon, with member fees funding much of the organization. ALEC held its 2012 States & Nation Policy Summit Nov. 28-30 in Washington and unveiled 25 pieces of model state legislation in a report Monday (http://xrl.us/bn5pjb).
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski unveiled an agreement with the four major national carriers to “accelerate” their ability to transmit emergency text messages to 911 call centers. The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) also signed the agreement. Industry and government officials conceded Friday much remains to be done to make widespread text-to-911 a reality.