The Northern Mariana Islands should make sure no money is diverted from a proposed 911 fund, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in a Wednesday letter to Gov. Ralph Torres (R). In a July 21 letter to O’Rielly, Torres said the territory doesn’t have a 911 system or active public safety answering points and thus isn’t collecting fees or charges. “The current structure provides emergency response calls to all municipal governments through dedicated telephone land lines with individual telephone handset units handled by radio dispatchers under the Department of Public Safety,” the governor said. Lawmakers are drafting a bill to create emergency 911 and next-generation 911 systems, with a 911 surcharge, he said.

President Donald Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act (HR-2345) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology Small Business Cybersecurity Act (S-770) Tuesday. HR-2345, which the Senate passed earlier this month (see 1808020011), directs the FCC to work to designate a new national three-digit dialing code in the style of 911 for a mental health crisis and suicide prevention hotline. House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., lauded Trump's signoff on HR-2345, saying that "millions of Americans each year, particularly young people and veterans, struggle with depression and mental health issues. It is critical to connect those contemplating suicide with the support they need, and there’s more we can do to help." Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the lead sponsor of Senate companion S-1015, said he's “hopeful because this legislation can turn the tide in the campaign against this epidemic” and “prevent countless tragedies and help thousands.” S-770, which the Senate also passed this month, directs NIST to facilitate a voluntary public-private partnership to develop best practices for reducing critical infrastructure small- and medium-sized businesses' cybersecurity risks (see 1704210038). The House agreed to the bill in July.

The National Association of State 911 Administrators said the FCC should beef up 911 reliability rules. Industry commenters questioned the need for annual certification requirements. Replies in docket 13-75 largely tracked initial comments in which APCO and the National Emergency Numbering Association urged the FCC to impose new 911 reliability rules and industry backed streamlining existing rules (see 1807170034). The Public Safety Bureau sought comment in June on 911 network reliability and whether current rules should be “modified to adapt to advancements in technology or other changes.” NASNA said the current reporting requirement for covered 911 providers is working. “The annual certification process is useful to state 911 administrators,” NASNA said. “It enables them to know what each individual provider has warranted on record. When issues arise, it enables them to work with the covered 911 service provider and the Commission to resolve those issues.” Less frequent certifications wouldn’t work, the group said: “A lot can change in a network in the course of 12 months.” AT&T urged overhauling the rules, "to eliminate wasteful, low-utility reporting practices." Such information "is almost never used by any of the intended beneficiaries,” it noted. Alternatively, the FCC could narrow the scope of the information required and reduce the frequency of reporting to every three years, AT&T said. ATIS would support eliminating the certification requirement: “There is no evidence that this requirement has had any significant impact to network reliability or resiliency.” T-Mobile said the FCC should leave the current rules in place. “The importance of the issue is reflected in the size of the record compiled when the Commission first considered adopting rules to improve the reliability and resiliency of 911 communications networks,” the carrier said.

LAS VEGAS -- APCO closed its annual meeting with a session featuring FirstNet users who made the case for the new network, being built by AT&T. But the officials conceded that in some cases expanding the network will remain a fight. Many attendees at APCO expressed skepticism about the network (see 1808070037), but presentations at the annual meeting had a mostly pro-FirstNet focus.

Nebraska 911 centers recovered from a 911 outage in several southeastern counties that began early morning Wednesday, the Nebraska Public Service Commission said that afternoon. “Counties were affected in various ways with some not having any issues and others experiencing difficulties,” the PSC said. Seven of the counties provided citizens an alternate number during the outage, it said. “The PSC continues to work with the Southeast Region and its provider Windstream to determine the exact cause of the outage.” Windstream had an "IP networking issue," with the outage lasting from 1:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., a spokesman said. "We are investigating the root cause."

LAS VEGAS -- The FCC understands that the wireless location accuracy of 911 calls remains a major issue for 911 call centers, Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth told an APCO Conference audience. Other officials at the conference told us repeatedly they're still having difficulty locating wireless callers, years after the FCC started to take on the issue (see 1808070037). The FCC imposed updated requirements in 2015.

As wildfires burn large swaths of the northwest, the California Public Utilities Commission plans to vote Thursday on extending the life of consumer protections adopted last year in case of future natural disasters. But in late-July comments released this week, most wireline and wireless carriers rejected the agency’s proposed decision as unnecessary and legally flawed. Telecom providers Friday reported few network issues from wildfires but said they’re lending support (see 1808030031).

LAS VEGAS -- “FirstNet is your network," FirstNet CEO Mike Poth assured APCO attendees Tuesday. FirstNet will have “features and services that stand up to the demands of the job,” he said. “Priority pre-emption, reliability, security.” FirstNet has a huge presence at the conference, with AT&T/FirstNet the event's lead sponsor, even offering free shoe shines. Poth encouraged attendees to take a lap around the show floor to see all the new devices coming online for public safety.

The FCC Public Safety Bureau said its 911 Reliability Certification System is open for filing annual reliability certifications. The certifications, by covered 911 service providers, are due Oct. 15 and should be filed using the online portal, the bureau said.

Revised 911 grant program rules are now effective, says a Federal Register notice set for Friday. The final rule by NTIA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revised the grant program rules as a result of the 2012 NG-911 Advancement Act.