VoIP is the main bar to sustainable avenues to financing wireline...
VoIP is the main bar to sustainable avenues to financing wireline E-911 service, said a Mass. study panel analyzing E- 911 funding mechanisms. The Mass. Statewide Energy & Telecom Board is studying ways to implement a 2002 law for…
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an interim 911 funding fix giving the Dept. of Telecom & Energy until Dec. 31, 2006, to find a long-term funding solution. VoIP customers don’t contribute financially to E-911, the board said. Migration of phone customers to VoIP and wireless is choking off the landline revenue stream that supports E-911 service, the report said, adding that wireless customers do contribute via the state wireless E-911 fund, but those who migrate to VoIP no longer support E-911 service. The board urged a central E-911 fund supported by surcharges on any device that can access E-911 by landline, wireless or the Internet. Regulators should expand the E-911 fund mission to cover 911 dispatcher training, implementation of 311 for non- emergency public safety calls and 211 for human services referrals and “reverse 911” to warn people in neighborhoods in the path of storms and other dangers, the report said.