The FCC adopted 4-0 an NPRM that proposes to ensure direct-dial 911 calling from centralized phone systems in larger buildings and on campuses, and to ensure "dispatchable location" information is conveyed with emergency calls. At their monthly meeting Wednesday, commissioners also unanimously approved an order to begin auctioning off toll-free phone numbers.

The FCC approved a declaratory ruling and order designed to speed the deployment of small cells and 5G across the U.S. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, whose vote had been in doubt (see 1809200007), partially dissented and partially concurred Wednesday.

An FCC draft NPRM seeking to improve 911 calling from multiline buildings and complexes, and to provide "dispatchable location" information to first responders looks likely to "sail through" at commissioners' Wednesday meeting, an agency official said Tuesday. Commissioners and staffers are still ironing out the wrinkles in a draft order to begin auctioning toll-free numbers, said the official.

A Wednesday House Communications Subcommittee on the 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424) and other public safety telecom-related bills will likely be focused on whether there's a path to potentially move those bills later this year, lawyers and lobbyists told us. The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. HR-6424 would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money. FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is a backer of the bill but won't testify on its behalf (see 1808170023).

Hurricane Florence is still affecting communications service in North Carolina, the only state for which the FCC’s disaster information reporting system is still active. Thursday’s report showed 270,688 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in the state, compared with 283,327 Wednesday (see 1809190048). Out-of-service cellsites in North Carolina went to 3.7 percent from 4.3 percent. Two public safety answering points in North Carolina still were rerouting 911 calls to other PSAPs. One TV station, Free Life Ministries’ WHFL-CD Goldsboro, remained out of service, along with 21 FM stations and two AM stations.

NARUC said it generally endorses some FCC proposals in a draft NPRM to improve 911 dialing from multiline telephone systems in buildings and complexes and ensure "dispatchable location" information is conveyed with 911 calls, regardless of technology. A 2014 NARUC resolution commended FCC efforts to ensure public safety answering points get "accurate information to identify the indoor location of wireless 9-1-1 callers and supported adoption of effective location technologies for indoor and outdoor 9-1-1 calls," said the group's filing posted Wednesday in docket 18-261 on meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel. It said a November 2017 resolution backed federal and state actions to require enterprise communications systems to allow direct 911 dialing (without extra digits) and provide location information precise enough to find callers. "Both NARUC resolutions suggest that any federal rules should be written to permit States to impose additional requirements 'presuming that such additional requirements do not contradict or conflict with federal requirements,'" it said. The NPRM is on the agenda for the Sept. 26 commissioners' meeting (see 1809050056). The filing also made arguments opposing an FCC proposal in a 2017 NPRM to eliminate resellers from its Lifeline USF program, and urging changes to telco jurisdictional separations rules without bypassing a federal-state joint board.

The FCC should add a regional or state 911 authority to the definition of “covered 911 service provider,” Motorola Solutions said in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 13-75. “Without this addition, an entity providing 911, E911, or NG911 capabilities or their functional equivalent may not be subject to the covered 911 service provider rules if it provided the services pursuant to direct contract with a regional or state 9-1-1 authority,” Motorola said.

Google said it’s launching emergency location service (ELS) for Android in the U.S., in combination with RapidSOS, T-Mobile and West, to bring more accurate location more quickly to 911 call centers. “Accurately locating someone during an emergency call is critical for reducing response time and can be the difference between life and death,” said a Wednesday Google blog post. “More than 80 percent of emergency calls come from mobile phones, but locating these phones can be challenging as traditional emergency location technologies can fail indoors or have a radius that’s too big to be useful.” ELS “provides a more accurate location both indoors and outdoors by using a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile networks and sensors -- the same high-accuracy location you see when using Google Maps,” the company said. Apple said in June it's working with RapidSOS on similar technology (see 1806180003). Google already launched ELS in the U.S. Virgin Islands through a partnership with West and Viya, a regional carrier.

The House Communications Subcommittee rescheduled a hearing on the 911 Fee Integrity Act (HR-6424) and two other public safety-related bills for Sept. 26. The hearing will begin at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn. House Communications will also examine the National Non-Emergency Mobile Number Act (HR-5700) and Anti-Swatting Act (HR-6003) during the hearing. The House Commerce Committee delayed the hearing, originally set for earlier this month, after House leadership decided to begin the Yom Kippur recess a day early (see 1809130035). HR-5700 would direct the FCC to create a unified wireless number for critical nonemergency situations on U.S. highways (see 1805090033). HR-6003 would increase criminal penalties against individuals who intentionally transmit false or misleading caller ID information to public safety answering points with the aim of triggering emergency response. HR-6424 would bar states from engaging in 911 fee diversion and give the FCC the power to decide on “acceptable” uses for the money (see 1808170023).

The number of cable and wireline subscribers out of service because of Hurricane Florence slightly declined Wednesday, after rising sharply earlier in the week, said the FCC disaster information reporting system report. Wednesday’s report shows 283,327 subscribers out of service in North Carolina, down from 285,725 Tuesday. (see 1809180058). South Carolina’s outages dropped to 29,104 from 30,053. Out-of-service cellsites in the area hardest hit by the storm improved from 4.1 percent to 2.2 percent. There were still two public safety answering points in North Carolina and one in South Carolina rerouting 911 calls to other PSAPs. There were still three out of service TV stations in North Carolina and twenty-three FM stations and three AM stations were listed as out. Late Wednesday, the Public Safety Bureau deactivated DIRS for Georgia, Virginia and South Carolina at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The system remains active for North Carolina.