A three-month delay in T-Mobile's CDMA shutdown isn’t long enough, and T-Mobile should delay until 2023, a Dish Network official said Monday. Experts said the delay until March 31 likely won’t be enough to mollify other critics or California regulators. Dish bought Boost from T-Mobile to partially resolve regulator concerns about T-Mobile buying Sprint and has raised concerns many of the prepaid service’s customers use 3G phones.
Multiple states likely won't have adopted legislation on rollout of 988 services when the suicide prevention hotline goes live nationwide July 16, mental health policy advocates told us. That could result in impeded service for states that haven't set up funding mechanisms for call centers to handle the increased volume of call traffic expected. Some state legislators that faced opposition this year after carriers raised fee concerns hope to pass bills in 2022.
The National Association of State 911 Administrators asked the FCC to begin a rulemaking or notice of inquiry on improving 911 services, in a petition posted Tuesday in docket 94-102. NASNA asked the commission to establish authority "over originating service providers' ... delivery of 911 services through IP-based emergency services networks," advance next-generation 911 implementation, and "require the cost of compliance" to be the responsibility of originating service providers. It asked the agency to consider establishing an "NG911 Readiness Registry."
The District of Columbia’s 911 center failed in many months to meet national standards for getting timely help to callers, reported the Office of D.C. Auditor Tuesday. ODCA said insufficient supervision of call-taking and dispatch, plus operators’ distrust in location technology, contributed to failures at the Office of Unified Communications, including inconsistent call handling and difficulty determining location of emergencies. Local officials want action.
Draft FY 2022 funding measures the Senate Appropriations Committee released Monday would give $387.5 million to the FCC, $384 million to the FTC and $80.6 million to NTIA. The proposed FCC appropriation is under 1% less than the House approved (see 2107290061) and matches what President Joe Biden proposed in May. The proposed FTC funding is more than 1% less than the House and Biden seek (see 2105280055). The proposed NTIA money is 10% less than the House Appropriations Committee or Biden wants. The Patent and Trademark Office would get more than $4 billion, up more than 1% from what Biden and House Appropriations want. The National Institute of Standards and Technology would get $1.39 billion, up about 1% from what House Appropriations wants but more than 7% below what Biden proposes. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security would get $142.4 million, less than 1% below what House Appropriations seeks but on par with Biden’s budget request. DOJ’s Antitrust Division would get more than $201.1 million, on par with what Biden and House Appropriations want. CPB would get $565 million beginning in FY 2024, on par with what the House proposes. Biden wants to keep CPB’s funding level at $475 million. Senate Appropriations proposes including $30 million in the Department of Homeland Security’s FY 2022 allocation “to design initiatives to deliver a resilient 911 Ecosystem in discrete and usable segments.” DHS will collaborate with the FCC, NTIA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on that work.
The District of Columbia’s 911 center failed in many months to meet national standards for getting timely help to callers, found the Office of D.C. Auditor (ODCA) in a Tuesday report. Insufficient supervision of 911 call-taking and dispatch, plus operators’ distrust in automatic location technology, contributed to failures at the Office of Unified Communications including inconsistent call handling and difficulties determining location of emergencies, the report said.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau got consent decrees with eight 911 service providers for failing to timely file annual reliability certifications for either 2019 or 2020, the agency said Thursday. Northeast Missouri Rural Telecom agreed to pay $7,500. Arctic Slope Telephone Association Co-op, Farmers Telephone Co-op, Jackson Energy Authority, Micronesian Telecom, South Central Utah Telephone Association and Sweetser Telephone each agreed to pay $6,000. Hayneville Telephone will pay $3,500. All providers agreed to establish compliance plans to avoid late filings in the future. “This should serve as a very clear reminder that compliance with 911 service rules is required," said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. The providers didn't comment. The deadline for filing 2021 certifications is Friday.
Congressional leaders and telecom policy observers signaled Thursday they expect major cuts to a budget reconciliation package that Democrats have aimed to include connectivity money. Some believe any move to reduce the scope from the $3.5 trillion congressional Democrats envisioned in August could endanger proposed money for the FCC Emergency Connectivity Fund and next-generation 911 (see 2110010001).
Emergency communications have improved since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, including the launch of FirstNet, but problems persist, said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), chair of the House Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Subcommittee, during a virtual hearing Thursday. The Homeland Security Committee panel heard from first responders who warned of funding shortfalls and that many areas are falling further behind as technology advances.
The FCC notice of inquiry on future spectrum needs of the IoT was changed from the draft to ask whether rules or standards were slowing progress. Our review is based on a side-by-side comparison of the NOI's final and draft versions. The disaster preparedness NPRM also saw changes, as discussed by FCC officials Thursday (see 2109300069). Both were posted in Friday's Daily Digest.