The FCC Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) should coordinate with the National Communications System and U.S. Customs Service to ensure access to handsets and other satellite terminals during disasters, the Commission said in the text of an order following up on Hurricane Katrina panel recommendations. The satellite industry has made much of its reliability after the storm lay waste to New Orleans and its terrestrial systems.

Qualcomm said it will join wireless carriers in asking the U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, to stay an International Trade Commission order banning import of new wireless handsets with Qualcomm chips held to infringe a Broadcom patent. Qualcomm also will ask President Bush to veto the decision, the company said. CTIA blasted the move as bad for consumers, saying it will slow 3G network rollouts. COMCARE and the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials said the order will hurt efforts to make 911 more accurate. ITC in a “split-the-baby decision” Thurs. said the ban will apply to future handset models (CD June 8 p8), but not those already being imported.

The N.C. House passed a sweeping bill to reorganize 911 service provisioning in the state. HB-1755 would create a new 17-member state 911 coordinating board assigned to ensure that all voice telecom providers contribute to support the system, and for safeguarding 911 service quality. The board would collect a monthly E-911 fee on each “voice communications service connection” in the state, regardless of technology, and distribute the proceeds to local 911 agencies. The board also would develop a comprehensive statewide E-911 plan for communicating E-911 location data across networks and among 911 answering points. It also would monitor 911 technology trends and study ways to improve E-911 efficiency. The board would report every 2 years to the legislature on the state’s 911 systems, the first report due in Feb. 2009. The bill is in the Senate Finance Committee.

The N.Y. Senate unanimously passed a 911 bill requiring VoIP providers to tell customers about any limits on basic or enhanced 911 service. SB-4611 would require that providers disclose 911 restrictions in all ads, marketing materials, service contacts and installation kits. VoIP providers would have to have customers sign statements indicating that they're aware of VoIP 911 limits. VoIP providers unable to provide 911 would have to notify customers at signup and issue no-911 warning stickers for their phones. They also would have to disclose their 911 incapacity in ads and marketing materials. VoIP providers would have to move to prevent VoIP foreign exchange calls from being routed to the wrong 911 district. Violations would carry $1,000 fines. The bill goes to the Assembly.

A group of 2 Ky. carriers and an Ore. carrier asked the FCC to reconsider a referral to the Enforcement Bureau because they failed to meet a Commission deadline that 95% of their subscribers use location-capable handsets. The petition was filed by Cellular Phone of Ky., Ramcell of Ky. and Ramcell of Ore. The Ky. carriers, being purchased by Verizon Wireless in a deal set to close in July, told the FCC they can’t afford to overlay their TDMA system with the CDMA technology required to meet the requirement, prompting the sale to Verizon. The Ore. carrier, meanwhile, “complied with all of the handset deployment benchmarks except for the last benchmark due to a misunderstanding of the Commission’s E911 Phase II rules,” the carriers said. All 3 say that the 2004 ENHANCE Act exempts them from FCC penalties. The Act states that the FCC “shall grant the waiver of compliance… requested by the petition if it determines that strict enforcement of the requirements of that section would result in consumers having decreased access to emergency services,” the petition says. “It could not conceivably have been Congress’s intent to have the Commission grant Tier III carriers extensions of time while also punishing them for being unable to meet the very challenges the ENHANCE 911 Act was intended to address,” the carriers told the Commission: “Insofar as the Commission may have discretion in other circumstances to grant relief on a prospective basis while also imposing a forfeiture or other enforcement action, the Commission’s apparent presumption that it has authority to do so here is inconsistent with the ENHANCE 911 Act.”

The FCC said in a rulemaking on E-911 location requirements all carriers -- GSM and CDMA -- likely will be required to meet the same accuracy standards. The text of the rulemaking also says the Commission believes it has the authority to order carriers to meet tougher testing requirements proposed by the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials, but is seeking comment anyway “out of an abundance of caution.” The FCC approved the item (CD June 1 p2) last Thurs., but released the text late Fri.

The Cal. PUC plans workshops Tues.-Sun. to fulfill a 2006 legislative directive that the PUC deal with needs for telecom backup power systems for customer premises equipment in homes and small businesses, and for standard emergency notification protocols for all Cal. carriers. The directive noted that many telecom devices won’t work without commercial electric power, which could leave customers with no way to dial 911 in power failures. The Tues. and Wed. workshops in Case R 07-04-015 will deal with respective responsibilities of carriers and customers and options for backup power. The session Sun. will cover carriers can alert the public to local emergencies.

The FCC Thurs. approved a rulemaking proposing that wireless carriers be required to improve their systems so they can more accurately locate subscribers who make 911 calls. The FCC also began an examination of whether carriers should have to report by PSAP, rather than by statewide averaging, how they perform in reaching emergency callers rather than through statewide averaging. PSAP reporting is more lenient and is favored by carriers. The Commission is also examining requirements for VoIP providers.

AT&T and Cox Telecom asked the Cal. PUC for oral hearings on a newly revised proposed decision to fine them for unlawful ex parte communications in a 911 “warm line” complaint case. The carriers said the hearings are needed because the changes to the proposed decision (Case 05-11-011) effectively would widen the scope of PUC ex parte limits. The complaint case, filed last year by consumer group UCAN, alleges the companies violated a mandate that they provide 911 access on installed phone lines even when service otherwise is disconnected. UCAN last June complained that the companies discussed substantive matters relating to the complaint in ex parte contacts with key advisers to PUC members. The PUC in Jan. proposed to fine each firm $40,000 for ex parte contact rule violations. But the PUC last week revised the proposal, reinterpreting its ex parte limits; the change substantially expands ex parte curbs without formal hearings or rulemaking, the carriers said. The expanded rule would put parties and their counsel at ex parte violation risk if they discussed with PUC advisors any generic subjects or issues that happened to be at issue in a complaint case, they said.

The FCC’s handed down new mandates for carriers to prepare for emergencies, including requirements that larger carriers install backup power for critical facilities and file reports on the resilience of their 911 systems, in approving an order Thurs. following through on parts of last year’s Hurricane Katrina Panel report. The order extends by a year provisions exempting the Bells from a ban on sharing some information with their affiliates, to speed their disaster planning. The order also instructs the Public Safety Bureau to establish a clearinghouse to provide information to industry on best practices for preparing for disaster.