The FCC approved 4-0 NPRMs on expediting the transition to next-generation 911 and giving consumers more choice on the robocalls and robotexts they’ll receive (see 2305180069). Both were approved with limited comments from commissioners.

Pennsylvania House committees passed bills on 911 and 988 funding Wednesday, though some lawmakers voiced concerns about the state's means of funding of the emergency call services.

An Ohio Senate panel supported upgrading to next-generation 911. The Financial Institutions and Technology Committee voted 4-0 Tuesday for SB-50. Ohio’s administrative services department could incur $10.3 million in yearly expenses to develop and maintain the NG-911 network, while counties may have to pay “several hundreds of thousands of dollars” to bring 911 systems into compliance, said a fiscal note: Costs might be fully offset by a NG-911 fee on landline, wireless and other communications services. The bill would replace the current 25-cents monthly wireless 911 fee with a 64-cents charge on communications services including landlines and VoIP. The bill would keep the current charge for prepaid wireless services, which is 0.005 percent of the retail sale price. “Expansion of the NG 9-1-1 fee to include communications services not currently subject to the fee is expected to increase the amount of revenue collected significantly,” the fiscal note said. The current wireless-only 911 charge collected about $25 million yearly on average over the past five years, it said. With the proposed larger and more broadly applied fee, “it is conceivable that revenue … could increase by tens of millions per year.”

The FCC released a small entity compliance guide Monday on revised 911 outage reporting rules approved by commissioners 4-0 in November (see 2211170051). Section 1 of the Communications Act charges the FCC with “promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications,” the guide says: The rules “impose more stringent reporting requirements” on covered 911 service providers “in terms of notification content, timing, means, and frequency.”

The FCC got only limited comment on its draft 42 GHz NPRM, teed up for a vote at the FCC’s meeting Thursday. Similar to a draft NPRM on next-generation 911 (see 2306020040), it's expected to pass 4-0 with limited tweaks. NCTA met with staff for all four commissioners, expressing general “appreciation for the FCC’s willingness to consider innovative uses of spectrum,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 23-158. “We noted that millimeter wave spectrum is not a substitute for mid-band spectrum, particularly 3.1 GHz and 7 GHz, but can be used to support different operations and services including for extremely high capacity and high-speed services, like real-time Augmented Reality-powered data sharing for innovations in smart cities, schools, offices, homes, libraries, hospitals, factories, and automobiles,” NCTA said. The group asked the FCC to seek comment on whether the proposal could also work in the lower 37 GHz band. Equipment is available that can be used in that band, but none is available for 42 GHz, NCTA noted: “Because of the existing equipment ecosystem, the Lower 37 GHz band will be available for commercial operations much more quickly than the 42 GHz band.” Amazon’s Kuiper Systems urged the FCC to “explore all options for maximizing use of millimeter wave spectrum” as part of the notice. Amazon suggested adding the language: “We also seek comment on whether to authorize secondary operations in the 42 GHz band. Can the Commission enable greater use of the band through one or more secondary allocations while protecting primary licensees from harmful interference?” Representatives met with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioner Nathan Simington. The two offered the only industry filings so far in the docket.

The FCC appears headed for approval Thursday of a draft NPRM on facilitating the launch of next-generation 911 with relatively few changes (see 2305180069), industry officials said. APCO asked for added language and NTCA raised small carrier concerns, but otherwise a docket on the NPRM has been quiet since the draft item was circulated two weeks ago. Comments were filed last week in docket 21-479.

As the FCC mulls a framework for direct-to-handset satellite service, satellite interests told us discussions about service rules are a relatively low priority. Service rules came up in comments last month in the agency's supplemental coverage from space (SCS) framework NPRM (see 2305150007), but many SCS interested parties were silent.

Texas legislators passed broadband funding and consumer privacy bills before adjourning Monday. Gov. Gregg Abbott (R) has until June 18 to consider many of the bills. "This was a big, important session for rural telecom,” said Texas Telephone Association (TTA) Executive Director Mark Seale in an interview Tuesday.

Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan endorsed the House Commerce Committee-approved Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) Wednesday in a letter to bill lead sponsors panel Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. The measure, which House Commerce advanced Wednesday on a 55-0 vote (see 2305240069), would renew the FCC’s auction authority through Sept. 30, 2026. It proposes to allocate up to $14.8 billion in future auction proceeds for next-generation 911 tech upgrades and up to $3.08 billion to fully fund the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. “Each of these actions are vital to U.S. competitiveness and national security,” Donovan wrote Rodgers and Pallone. “The lack of spectrum auction authority for the FCC and a strong spectrum pipeline clearly harms CCA members and the customers they serve. Several CCA members are also extremely impacted by the lack of full funding needed” to reimburse providers participating in the rip and replace program. “Beyond the Congressionally-created national security mandate to participate in” rip and replace, “impacted carriers (and the customers and roaming consumers their networks serve) are in imminent jeopardy of network failures and face hard decisions to ‘rip’ but not ‘replace’ due to extreme funding constraints,” Donovan said: The FCC’s upcoming July 15 “deadline to submit a reimbursement claim, triggering the one-year statutory completion timeframe, the continuity of reliable wireless, including emergency services, is at stake in many parts of rural America.”

The House Commerce Committee’s Wednesday advancement of the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565) and panel leaders’ push to enact (see 2305170037) a bill to restore the FCC’s spectrum auction authority through June 30 (HR-3345) are aimed squarely at putting pressure on Senate negotiators to reach a deal, said lawmakers, congressional aides and others in interviews. The panel advanced an amended version of HR-3565 50-0 and unanimously approved five bipartisan broadband permitting measures but divided sharply along party lines on the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-3557).