The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said it launched a 20 day public review period for its VoIP E-911 Interim Solution standard (I2). The standard is aimed at enabling VoIP service providers to “deliver full E-911 service through the current E-911 infrastructure,” NENA said -- www.nena.org.
Industry and consumer groups pledged support for an FCC “Strategic Plan” in comments released last week, but many weren’t shy about pushing favorite regulatory issues. Under the 1993 Govt. Performance & Results Act, the FCC must devise a plan outlining its future direction. In its July 5 release of a draft 2006-2011 plan, the FCC asked for comments by Aug. 5 and last week released 19 comments filed on the plan.
Regulators are reviewing satellites’ relation to the Emergency Alert System and E-911 requirements. At the FCC, the International Bureau Satellite Division and the Enforcement Bureau Office of Homeland Security recently met with DBS and satellite radio firms to discuss the feasibility of satellite participating in the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Separately, the Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) is reviewing long term issues for E-911 services, including whether E-911 requirements can be extended to satellite telephony. Both reviews are addressing satellite system design’s uniqueness relative to the terrestrial infrastructure, and difficulties involved in extending emergency requirements to the skies.
Caption providers have seen their business grow as a Jan. 1, 2006, deadline nears for non-exempt new programming to be captioned in the top 25 markets. “Our business has naturally been growing by 50% to 75%,” said Jay Feinberg, dir.- mktg. services at the National Captioning Institute. His and other captioning services, such as Vitac and Caption Colorado, have noticed more business as a result of the deadline, executives said.
Use of wireless devices, as well as emerging geo- location and RFID applications, in the state govt. workplace is “very attractive, however risky” due to unresolved privacy issues, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) said. Govt. employees’ ability to access state networks wirelessly anytime anywhere “requires increased vigilance [from state CIOs] so that citizens’ personal information remains safe from unauthorized exposure,” the study said. For example, NASCIO said, a terminated govt. employee could copy personal data on his still activated state-issued PDA before leaving, or a hacker parked outside a state building could intercept sensitive data being transmitted over the state’s wireless network. These and other scenarios have privacy implications that, unaddressed, “could outweigh the mobility and productivity benefits that wireless technologies bring to the state government workplace,” the study said. NASCIO said it will discuss “appropriate security measures” state CIOs should implement in subsequent report to be released later this year.
Sens. Burns (R-Mont.) and Clinton (D-N.Y.) asked the Homeland Security Dept. (DHS) to take the lead on a 2 GHz proceeding pending at the FCC, citing the security benefits of “next-generation, ubiquitous, interoperable nation-wide wireless system.” In a Aug. 4 letter to Secy. Michael Chertoff that was attached to comments filed by TMI/TerreStar Mon. at the FCC, the senators asked DHS to “play a leading role” on the issue. It’s imperative that DHS weigh in on critical telecommunications infrastructure, they said: “We believe the FCC would give some deference to your views on this matter, and we urge you to be actively involve as the FCC considers how it will allocate this spectrum.”
The FCC’s request for comments on whether to expand its new E-911 rules for VoIP providers generated little enthusiasm from telecom or Internet providers in filings late Mon. Businesses from SBC to Skype to Motorola told the FCC expansion could add consumer confusion, particularly if regulations were too specific for an ever- changing technology. The FCC had issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) as part of its E-911 VoIP order that asked about a variety of expansions, such as applying the rules to more types of VoIP services or adding more requirements such as performance reporting or deadlines for applying location technology.
State lawmakers from across the U.S. will tackle telecom and technology issues this week at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ annual conference in Seattle. Proposed state and national telecom law rewrites and wrangles over municipal Wi-Fi are among the hot topics at the 5-day conference, which begins today (Tues.). About 7,000 state legislators, policy experts, advocates, govt. leaders and media are expected to attend.
Nuvio asked the U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., to expedite an appeal Nuvio filed against an FCC order that VoIP providers offer full E-911 service by Nov. 28. Nuvio CEO Jason Talley said the company told the court a decision by Nov. 7 is “imperative” and without one “we will have no choice but to start suspending some users.” Talley said “we share the Commission’s passion about deploying 911 service” but the FCC’s 120-day deadline is unsupported by facts: “Wireless companies have been given decades to implement this type of 911 service and are still far from completion.” Nuvio filed Aug. 4 for expedited treatment and followed up Aug. 12 with a reply to an FCC filing saying the Commission doesn’t oppose expedited consideration as long it gets 30 days to file a brief. “If the court can accommodate the Commission’s request without unduly delaying the resolution of the case, Nuvio would have no objection,” the firm said in the Aug. 12 reply. Nuvio told the court it could file a brief by Sept. 6, suggesting the FCC then could file by Sept. 27. Meanwhile, the FCC said it received 3 petitions for reconsideration of the VoIP order -- from CompTel, T- Mobile and a joint filing by the National Emergency Number Assn. and the VON Coalition. The FCC said oppositions to the recon petitions must be filed within 15 days of the date the petitions get printed in the Federal Register. The 3 reconsideration petitions were filed July 29.
State lawmakers from across the U.S. will tackle telecom and technology issues this week at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ annual conference in Seattle. Proposed state and national telecom law rewrites and wrangles over municipal Wi-Fi are among the hot topics at the 5-day conference, which begins today (Tues.). About 7,000 state legislators, policy experts, advocates, govt. leaders and media are expected to attend.