Text-to-911 Order On Its Way, FCC Officials Tell APCO
MINNEAPOLIS -- A text-to-911 order could be released next month, FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky told the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) conference. Last September the bureau sought comment on near- and long-term options for next generation 911, and received a variety of ideas on how to best support a text-to-911 service, he said. While only a fully deployed next-gen system will support the full range of multimedia communications, including photos and video, “it’s feasible to quickly and cost-effectively implement” an interim version, which would allow people to use SMS text messaging to contact 911. An order could come at the September or October monthly meeting, he said.
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"The public safety landscape has not kept pace with what consumers do every day,” Turetsky said. Bringing IP based communications to public safety “can’t be about if, but about when and how,” he said, quoting Chairman Julius Genachowski. Iowa, Vermont and Durham, N.C., have already seen successful tests of the system, and Verizon and AT&T have announced plans to permit SMS to 911 next year, and the FCC hopes other carriers will do so, Turetsky said.
SMS was not designed for emergency communications, and can’t generally provide automatic location information, but it can “serve as a first step in the migration to full next generation 911,” he said. It’s already extensively used by consumers, and it will also be invaluable for the 40 million Americans with hearing or speech disabilities, he said. It would also be useful “in a Virginia Tech” situation where voice communications could endanger the caller, he said.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced at last year’s APCO meeting he planned to ask the FCC to approve a rulemaking notice on accelerating the buildout of a next generation 911 network, then asked questions about how to enable text, photo, and video transmission to 911 call centers at the commission’s next meeting (CD Aug 11/11 p4). The FCC approved the notice last September as predicted by the chairman (CD Sept 23 p6).
One year after the FCC outlined its five-step plan to further the development of NG911, “we are making progress,” Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday at APCO’s Distinguished Achiever’s breakfast. “We have developed cost models and we continue to work on the benefits and genuine complexities of texting to 911.” And as the 911 service becomes more robust and public safety answering points start receiving a “deluge” of data, cloud computing would hold “real promise” in getting the right information to the right people at the right time, she said. For example, a call taker might not need to see video of a car accident, but that video could be vital for a police dispatcher, Rosenworcel said. “If we get this right, we can take emergency response to new heights,” she said. “We can make this country safer."
Regarding the nationwide 700 MHz public safety broadband network, Turetsky said the FCC would grant special temporary authority (STA) in limited circumstances for state and local jurisdictions seeking early deployment. But STA will only be granted where an applicant can demonstrate “extraordinary need,” he said. Existing waivers end effective Sept. 2, and all existing waiver requests will be dismissed then, he said. In the future, states will be able to opt out of FirstNet and do network deployment on their own if they meet various requirements. The commission is examining the process for such opt-outs, but it won’t propose specific rules and procedures until next year, Turetsky said.
Rosenworcel urged conference attendees to explore the promise of FirstNet, and how to develop the public-private partnerships that can make the new system successful. It’s not just a national network, she said. It requires local input, investment and support. “Some are saying that building this kind of network will be a Herculean effort,” but the public safety professionals in the crowd were up to it, she said. “What these doubters do not realize is that the first responders in this room perform Herculean acts every day."
David Furth, deputy Public Safety Bureau chief, reiterated the importance of the Jan. 1 deadline for UHF-VHF narrowbanding, which will help free up capacity for other services. “We are not moving the narrowbanding deadline,” he said. Licensees still operating in wideband have a choice: Either transition to narrowband operations by Jan. 1, or obtain a waiver from the FCC, he said. “To obtain a waiver, you need to make a timely request. That means now.” Waiver requests filed at the eleventh hour “will be viewed with skepticism and are very likely not to be granted.” Also unlikely to be granted are “unsubstantiated requests,” he said.
Furth said the bureau is often asked what will happen if a licensee doesn’t move to narrowbanding, and also doesn’t request a waiver. The commission will aggressively enforce the narrowband mandate, he said. “We are already working with the FCC’s enforcement bureau to prepare for 2013,” he said. “I know that this advice does not apply to anybody in this room,” he said, to laughter.