The ComCare board voted to support the Cingular-AT&T Wireless merger. “We have been impressed with Cingular’s efforts in the safety area, including its extending coverage to eliminate dead zones, deploying enhanced 911, introducing faster data services, and providing priority wireless service to emergency officials,” the group said in an ex parte filing at the FCC.

The ComCare Alliance warned Wed. of a growing divide between large and small communities based on whether they can provide wireless Phase II E911 coverage. ComCare observed that public safety answering points (PSAPs) in small communities, representing 40% of the population, have yet to even request Phase II E911. To that end, ComCare published a list of 5,487 PSAPs that are lagging. “The PSAP by PSAP approach to E911 readiness, which seems to work, albeit slowly, for the large communities is not working for smaller ones; we need some new state and regional answers,” said Jack Potter, vice chmn. of the ComCare Alliance. “We need state and local governments to help 911, so we are publishing the list of PSAPs which have not requested Phase II in the hope that the governors, county supervisors and mayors of those communities will offer additional assistance and resources to 911 leaders.” ComCare said at last count 1,608 PSAPs, covering 42% of the U.S. population, are prepared to receive Phase II E911 information. States also differ greatly, with some largely rural states including N.M. and Neb. having no PSAPs that have applied.

Cable industry VoIP revenue will exceed $1 billion by 2006 and is projected to grow to $8 billion by 2010, said Dallas Clement, Cox Communications senior vp-strategy & product development. Clement told a packed crowd at a NAMIC session in N.Y.C. that VoIP enables voice over a high-speed network and offers cable operators a new revenue stream. Phil Giordano, Vonage vp-sales, agreed, saying his company’s offerings had grown 30% monthly since VoIP service launched in 2002. As of Aug. 31, Vonage had 248,458 lines in operation, Giordano said. The company was originally going to work in partnership with cable operators but found few takers. “There was this analysis paralysis, so we decided to go directly to consumers,” he said. Vonage is now starting to collaborate with 2nd-tier and smaller cable companies, he said.

LONDON -- The U.S. and U.K. see eye-to-eye on many telecom and Internet issues despite differences in their respective infrastructures, NTIA, FCC and State Dept. officials said Wed. “Technology doesn’t recognize any borders,” said NTIA Dir. Michael Gallagher. Given their common heritage and common approach to difficult issues like spectrum and broadband, he said, it’s not surprising the countries’ positions are in alignment. Investment challenges associated with broadband deployment exist in every country, said FCC Comr. Kathleen Abernathy. Neither the U.S. nor the U.K. directly subsidizes deployment, she said, meaning “we're all looking at the same things to spur investment” through regulatory approaches. Their comments came during an interview with Communications Daily.

A contractor digging trenches in central Oklahoma City to lay cable for an SBC local competitor sliced through an SBC underground conduit, knocking out the city’s E911 capability and the citywide public safety communications system more than 12 hours Mon. The 911 calls were rerouted to regular city police phone numbers, but centralized dispatching and automatic location capability were lost. The cable cut also halted citywide radio communications among police, fire and rescue units as the radio repeaters linked by phone lines went dead. Without the repeaters, radio communication was limited to a few blocks’ radius, so emergency personnel had to fine phones to call farther. Oklahoma City is building a new $4.6 million public safety communications system that will provide automatic rerouting capability if a phone line goes down, but it won’t be up until March.

The Pa. PUC adopted new market-exit rules for local exchange providers to ensure end-user customers don’t lose service when providers abandon a market. The new rules (Case L-00030165) require local carriers to file an exit plan with the PUC 90 days before their planned termination date, giving their reasons for exiting, customers affected by the move, and plans for shifting retail customers to a new provider. The departing carrier also must notify the appropriate 911 authorities at least 30 days in advance that they can unlock the affected customers’ emergency records for use by the new carrier, and return unassigned phone numbers to the national numbering administrator. The rules also establish pretermination processes for settling wholesale charges and resolving any outstanding disputes.

Reauthorization of the Satellite Home View Improvement Act (SHVIA) was described by Hill sources as the only “must pass” legislation as Congress returns from its Aug. recess after Labor Day. But congressional action to raise broadcast indecency fines also seemed likely. SHVIA is winding through the House and Senate, and both bodies have passed indecency fine legislation. Other issues, such as VoIP and spectrum relocation, were considered in flux. The Senate could take up controversial copyright reform legislation. Hill staff and lobbyists caution, however, that a focus on intelligence reform in the wake of the 9/11 Commission could crowd out other legislative initiatives.

Telematics providers are supporting a best practices document released by APCO in late Aug. But the document doesn’t address at least one critical issue: How calls are to be routed to 911 centers, a subject of past congressional legislation.

The Colo. PUC launched an investigation into the status of local competition in the state, in preparation for Qwest’s expected Oct. refiling of its retail rate deregulation proposal. Qwest in July proposed rate deregulation of all retail services except for residential basic exchange, which is capped by state law, and certain public interest services like 911. It said competition in Colo. is effective enough to substitute for regulation in protecting the public interest. Qwest withdrew the application last month because of paperwork and customer notification problems, but said it would refile in Oct. after the problems were taken care of. The PUC asked all telecom providers in the state to respond by Sept. 24 to a survey on competition. The questionnaire seeks information on barriers to entry and exit, number of providers offering comparable services, and how competition has affected service offerings and prices.

Cal. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed a 911 bill imposing fines up to $200 on persons who knowingly call 911 other than to report an emergency. Penalties range from an official warning on a first offense up to a $200 fine per call for chronic offenders. Meanwhile, the legislature sent the governor an act (SB-1488) that would direct the Cal. PUC to reexamine its confidentiality practices to ensure that they're not getting in the way of meaningful public participation and “open decision making.” PUC policy holds that filings are confidential unless they're specifically required to be public record, and prohibits PUC employees from divulging confidential information. The bill cited committee reports that an increasing amount of information is edited by the PUC before it goes public, raising questions about whether its processes are fair and open.