Vonage is trying to “shift blame” to AT&T for its difficulties in deploying E-911 service, AT&T told the FCC in the latest salvo between the 2 over whether AT&T is delaying Vonage’s deployment. Vonage told the FCC July 28 that it faces “disproportionate difficulties deploying E911 in AT&T territory.” AT&T responded late Fri. with a lengthy ex parte filing saying Vonage’s “imprecise and ill-informed” complaints are “specious.”
The Wyo. PSC launched an investigation into a major Qwest interexchange service outage affecting much of the state, which left some communities without E-911 for up to 7 hours Aug. 1. Service was lost when excavators cut a Qwest fiber cable while trenching near Cheyenne. The cable cut affected long distance and wireless service as Qwest’s network rerouted 911 traffic through local switches and lines. The rerouting kept 911 up for most towns, but public safety officials in Cody, Casper, Teton County and Park County said parts of their communities were without 911 for 3 to 7 hours. Qwest said its backups and rerouting worked as intended, but some local law enforcement agencies said the system needs improvement. Qwest wasn’t the only Wyo. carrier affected by cable cuts on Aug. 1. Sewer contractors in Pinedale severed a Century Tel underground line serving 600 customers in the nearby town of Boulder. Service was restored several hours later.
Cox in Cal. denied making improper ex parte contacts with Cal PUC staff members working on a complaint by consumer group UCAN, alleging Cox and AT&T failed to comply with a PUC “warm line” rule requiring that all phone lines be capable of placing calls to 911 regardless of whether there’s an active customer account on that line. UCAN last month alleged Cox and AT&T met with PUC staffers behind closed doors in mid- June to discuss motions for dismissal of the UCAN complaint (Case 05-11-011). Cox said the ex parte meetings in question didn’t discuss the UCAN case at all. Instead, Cox said, they occurred to discuss potential industrywide and statewide benefits if the PUC were to conduct a generic proceeding on telephone carriers’ 911 warm-line obligations. Cox said it and AT&T went to great lengths to avoid any discussions that violated ex parte rules.
The U.S. emergency alert system (EAS) needs upgrading to reflect new technology and new threats, Rep. Upton (R-Mich.), chmn. of the House Telecom Subcommittee said Thurs. at a hearing on the Warning Alert & Response Network (WARN) Act. The Senate is considering similar legislation.
Only about half of U.S. counties have E-911 Phase II capability, NENA said in documents filed this week at the FCC. Nationwide, 74.5% of counties have Phase I capability. NENA, which did a survey using a Dept. of Transportation grant, said it would cost $335 million to extend Phase II to all areas.
Cal. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed a 911 bill allowing unappropriated funds in the state 911 Emergency Telephone Number Account at the end of a fiscal year to be held in a trust account and spent on 911 system projects approved by the state Dept. of General Services. SB-1597 gives the dept., which collects and disburses money from 911 phone-bill surcharges, broad discretion to approve 911 projects not covered by regular state disbursements.
E-911 supporters urged Congress Wed. to approve funding for wireless E-911 technology that would make it possible for Americans to connect to safety services anywhere in the country. Only part of the wireless E-911 network is built, and many states need federal and state grants to upgrade equipment and technology to route calls from public safety access points (PSAPs) to the proper emergency personnel, said Greg Rohde, exec. dir.-E-911 Institute.
The N.Y. PSC staff seeks comments by Aug. 11 and replies Aug. 25 on a proposed online consumer guide to phone services in N.Y. The staff was responding to a PSC directive calling model consumer information guides to fit reduced regulation as competition keeps rising. The staff’s proposed guide would explain 911, blocking services and other public health and safety protections, plus provide general information on phone services and features, a complaint filing guide, links to telecom providers’ websites, and a website consumer forum.
Pending telecom reform legislation lacks a “framework” for handling universal service, 911 service, disability access and other social issues, Kyle Dixon of the Progress & Freedom Foundation said. This occurs when legislation looks at “a narrow subset” of reform issues, Dixon said Mon. in a paper for PFF’s “Progress on Point” series. Policymakers should be careful in handling social regulation, whose “unintended consequences” can include discouraging investment or slowing innovation, Dixon said. He urged careful monitoring by regulators and lawmakers using 5 principles: (1) Review social goals every 2 years at the regulatory level. (2) Identify and balance competing regulatory goals. (3) Weigh mandates against efforts to spur industry to act voluntarily. (4) Avoid actions that undermine competing goals. (5) Don’t automatically pick the FCC for regulatory duties because other agencies can handle some tasks more efficiently.
The Cal. legislature passed a bill (SB-1597) allowing surplus 911 funds in the state Emergency Telephone Number Account to be retained for 911 system upgrade projects. Under the bill sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), money left in the account at the end of each fiscal year would go into a separate trust account for 911-related projects approved by the Dept. of General Services, which collects the state 911 phone bill fees.