The Nebraska Public Service Commission later this month will consider adjusting the Enhanced Wireless 911 Fund surcharge, state commissioners agreed unanimously at a livestreamed Tuesday meeting. The Sept. 24 hearing in docket 911-002 starts at 11:30 a.m. CDT.

The District of Columbia’s 911 office staff can expect more D.C. Council scrutiny this fall, Judiciary and Public Safety Chair Brooke Pinto (D) said Monday. Pinto, in a news release, said she has “deep concern around continued errors and challenges” at Office of Unified Communications. Accordingly, Pinto promised monthly oversight hearings about the OUC and will make biweekly surprise visits to the 911 center. Also, Pinto plans to introduce a bill that would require public release of after-action reports within 45 days of incidents where errors may have led to serious injury or death. Also, the measure would require release of computer-aided dispatch (CAD) reports and 911 call recordings and transcripts. Dave Statter, a former journalist who regularly blogs and tweets about OUC, gave a mixed review of Pinto’s plan in a blog post Monday. Requiring OUC to disclose 911 calls and CAD reports is good because the office has refused to release that information, he said. “Unfortunately, the legislation … still allows DC911 to self-investigate critical incidents.” OUC has received much scrutiny over incidents where incorrect addresses and miscommunication prompted dispatching delays (see 2402080059).

The Maine Public Utilities Commission is seeking information on E-911 costs for public safety answering points and dispatch centers, it said Thursday in a notice of inquiry (docket 2024-00249). A 2024 state law requires such reports annually. Comments are due Sept. 27.

The Congressional Research Service predicts the U.S. Supreme Court’s June Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling (see 2406280043) and “uncertainty about the scope of the FCC’s authority and ability to adopt regulations in the public interest” could prompt congressional legislation "to clarify the agency’s statutory authority.” Conversely, lawmakers could also maintain “the status quo and let ambiguities regarding the FCC’s rulemaking authority be resolved by the courts,” CRS said in a Wednesday report. “There are also questions on whether the FCC may alter its rulemaking efforts in response to Loper Bright, as well as how such alterations might affect interest in legislation.” The FCC’s July FCC order that lets schools and libraries obtain E-rate support for off-premises Wi-Fi hot spots and wireless internet services (see 2407180024), April net neutrality rules and a 2023 digital discrimination order “illustrate the types of rules that might be challenged as exceeding FCC authority under Loper Bright or the major questions doctrine,” researchers said. Maurine and Matthew Molak petitioned the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week to review the E-rate Wi-Fi order (see 2408300027). The Molaks, whose 16-year-old son died by suicide after he was cyberbullied, say that ruling would give children and teenagers unsupervised social media access. Numerous FCC rules even before Loper Bright "were being contested by affected parties, including” the 5G Fund and next-generation 911 transition, “in both of which the FCC cites its public interest mandate,” CRS said. Researchers also noted the FCC’s 2022 notice of inquiry about ways to aid nascent in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing companies (see 2208050023) “has come under scrutiny from interested parties.”

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials and National Emergency Number Association want Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, GOP nominee ex-President Donald Trump and their running mates to make support for funding next-generation 911 tech upgrades “a central tenet” of their campaign platforms. Talks between lawmakers aimed at reaching a deal on a spectrum legislative package that would fund NG-911 and other telecom projects remain stalled (see 2408150039). “Enactment of NG9-1-1 funding legislation will provide the more than 100,000 9-1-1 professionals across the country with improved situational awareness, resulting in a faster and more efficient response for the members of the public they protect,” NENA CEO Brian Fontes and APCO CEO Mel Maier said in letters to Harris, Trump, GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). “NG9-1-1 will begin saving lives the moment it is implemented. Achieving NG9-1-1 is also a national security imperative, as it will lead to enhanced response to natural and man-made disasters, protection against cyberattacks including state-sponsored attacks, and support for homeland defense efforts in the event of a national emergency.”

AT&T suffered a wireless outage Tuesday night that apparently started in the Southeast and spread throughout the U.S., based on social media and other reports. A software issue caused the outage, which was resolved, AT&T said Wednesday. The FCC is investigating, a spokesperson emailed.

AT&T will pay $950,000 and implement a three-year compliance plan to resolve an FCC Enforcement Bureau investigation of an Aug. 22, 2023, 911 outage affecting parts of Illinois, Kansas, Texas and Wisconsin, the FCC said Monday. The outage lasted an hour and 14 minutes and resulted in more than 400 failed 911 calls, the agency said. AT&T “violated FCC rules by failing to deliver 911 calls to, and failing to timely notify, 911 call centers in connection” to the outage, the FCC found. The FCC said the outage occurred during testing parts of the carrier’s 911 network. A contractor technician “inadvertently disabled a portion of the network, and AT&T’s system did not automatically adjust to accommodate the disabled portion of the network, resulting in the outage.” The testing wasn’t associated with planned maintenance and “did not undergo the stringent technical review that would have otherwise been conducted.” Service providers “have an obligation to transmit 911 calls and notify 911 call centers of outages in a timely manner,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: “Our rules are designed to protect the public and ensure that public safety officials can inform consumers of alternate ways to reach emergency services in the event of an outage.” AT&T understands “the importance of having critical access to 911,” a spokesperson said in an email: “We’ve resolved this matter and are committed to keeping our customers connected in times they need it most.”

A July order by the FCC rejecting a petition for reconsideration by the Competitive Carriers Association of the commission’s 2022 order rules to improve the delivery of outage information to public safety answering points (see 2211170051) is now effective, a Wednesday notice in the Federal Register said. CCA argued that it was unreasonable to require originating service providers (OSPs) to initially notify PSAPs of 911 outages within 30 minutes of discovering an outage, the notice said: The FCC found CCA’s arguments “unpersuasive and concluded that the Commission was reasonable in adding a time limit to the OSP notification rules.” The FCC also rejected CCA’s argument that the commission should create a centralized database “before OSPs would be required to exercise special diligence in maintaining PSAP contact information,” the notice said.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau said on Tuesday its 911 reliability certification system is open for filing annual reliability certifications. The certificates are due Oct. 15. FCC rules require 911 service providers take reasonable measures to provide reliable service with respect to 911 circuit diversity, central office backup power and diverse network monitoring (see 2308220047).

Elkhart, Indiana, and the Dorchester County, Maryland, 911 Communications Division on Monday became the latest local government units objecting to the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance’s (PSSA) proposal to assign the 4.9 GHz band to FirstNet. The proposal has been highly divisive (see 2408050009). “Many local and regional authorities currently operate point-to-point communications on the 4.9 GHz band, during natural disasters, natural disaster recovery, and other life-threatening emergencies,” said Elkhart Mayor Rod Roberson (D). “The local nature of the 4.9 GHz band is crucial for future preparedness and providing network resiliency to first responders,” the Maryland county said.