Federal next-generation 911 funding has a slim chance of making it into a final infrastructure spending package, but Congress has other viable paths to enact the money this year, supportive lawmakers and officials said in recent interviews. The Senate passed its amended Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (HR-3684) with $65 billion for broadband but no NG-911 funding (see 2108100062). Some 911 stakeholders hope House Commerce Committee Democratic leaders will push to add at least some of the $15 billion they proposed in the Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow’s (Lift) America Act (HR-1848) when the chamber considers HR-3684 or via a coming budget reconciliation package.

The Kentucky 911 Services Board questioned CTIA’s standing to cross-appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a March 30 district court decision agreeing with CTIA that a Kentucky 911 law conflicts with the 2018 federal Wireless Telecom Tax and Fee Collection Fairness Act (see 2103300041). “CTIA lacks associational standing because participation by its members is necessary,” said a Thursday pleading (in Pacer) by the board. It notes that at least one CTIA member apparently “agreed to pay all applicable 911 charges as a condition of participating in Lifeline.”

Frontier Communications is hardening Arizona systems to make 911 more reliable, the company said at an Arizona Corporation Commission meeting Tuesday. Commissioners urged Frontier to be more proactive and questioned the company on its board's and management’s ability to get the company on the right path, said staff meeting notes emailed to us by the commission. When complete, staff’s probe could recommend adjustments to Frontier’s system or propose a show-cause order that could lead to sanctions. At a June meeting, commissioners criticized Frontier 911 reliability before unanimously agreeing to open the probe (see 2106080049). Frontier updated the Arizona commission Aug. 12 about its progress looking into recent 911 service outages and increasing reliability in docket T-03214A-21-21-0198. “Frontier's leadership continues to make its investigation and remedy plan a priority,” Director-Government Affairs Jack Phillips wrote Utilities Division Director Elijah Abinah.

The FCC's order adopting 911 fee diversion rules takes effect Oct. 18, said a Public Safety Bureau notice posted Tuesday in docket 20-291. Commissioners approved the order in June (see 2106250049).

An FCC framework for addressing contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities, approved 4-0 in July (see 2107120057), is effective Sept. 13, says the Friday Federal Register. Comments on an accompanying Further NPRM are due that day, replies Oct. 12, says a second notice. The order “adopts a framework requiring the disabling of contraband wireless devices detected in correctional facilities upon satisfaction of certain criteria, and we address issues involving oversight, wireless provider liability, and treatment of 911 calls,” the notice says.

The FCC's text-to-911 rules should help define which providers are subject to text-to-988 obligations, but 988 and 911 calling are fundamentally different and should be treated that way, T-Mobile said in docket 18-336 reply comments posted Wednesday. It said location-based routing isn't feasible or practical for 988 calling. It said bounce-back messages about the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline not being available by text should be originated by the Lifeline. It said since carriers don't have any control over whether Lifeline can accept those forms of texts or calls, an enhanced communications feature carrier mandate won't ensure those features are part of text-to-988. CTIA said the FCC should define “covered providers” and “covered services” for text-to-988 consistent with its text-to-911 rules, with “covered services” focusing on the existing capabilities of short message service (SMS), while leaving the record open to consider nascent and evolving messaging technologies. It said the agency should require covered providers to direct text-to-988 messages to the Lifeline just as voice calls to 988 are. Mitel Cloud Services urged exempting non-interconnected applications and services from the requirements. It said some non-interconnected applications can't use SMS, and many that include messaging only provide messaging to other subscribers to the application but don't allow messaging outside these groups. A coalition including the National Association of the Deaf, the American Council of the Blind, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the National Council on Independent Living and Paralyzed Veterans of America said the FCC should move toward making direct video communication an alternate means of reaching the Lifeline. It urged the FCC to consider including Real-time text and rich communication services formats in the definition of a text message. Crisis Text Line said the agency should use it to help provide texting service through 988, such as a nationwide backup or overflow support provider. There has been some telecom industry disagreement about the July 2022 deadline for a text-to-988 deadline (see 2107130064).

Arizona Corporation Commissioners will hear an update and might vote Aug. 17 on a Frontier Communications investigation including on 911 outages and equipment and facilities adequacy, said a Friday meeting agenda. The commission opened docket T-20680A-21-0198 two months ago.

Providers asked for greater flexibility in notification times and type of information relayed to public safety answering points in response to the FCC’s NPRM to harmonize 911 outage reporting, in comments posted Monday in docket 15-80. Comments were due Friday (see 2106290046). PSAP notifications should be triggered by “reportable outages,” said T-Mobile. It said requiring originating service providers to notify PSAPs about commercial outages would “increase the volume of notifications received by PSAPs significantly” and “not provide information that could be used by PSAPs to mitigate the impact.” T-Mobile said providers should be given more than 30 minutes to send “actionable information." AT&T, Verizon and Lumen agreed. Keep the “as soon as possible” standard to prevent over-notification, AT&T said. The proposed timing “would risk confusion and miscommunication between service providers and PSAPS,” Verizon said. Lumen said the timing should be “more flexible to avoid publicizing unvetted facts that may confuse the public.” The National Emergency Number Association said to prioritize electronic notifications because voice communication “comes with significant limitations surrounding sharing, recording, analysis, and continuity.” ATIS said providers won’t know the root cause or extent of an outage within 30 minutes and “additional burden to the industry and potential confusion would outweigh the benefits.” CTIA said it would be “extremely difficult for that provider to verify the other material information the proposal requests within that timeframe.” The Competitive Carriers Association agreed and said carriers “risk supplying PSAPs with incomplete or inaccurate information.” APCO disagreed and said notifications “should occur as quickly as possible.” Requiring notification no later than 15 minutes from discovery “would provide a stronger incentive for service providers to automate their notifications,” it said. Lumen opposed including geographic information systems data instead of descriptions of areas affected. USTelecom said smaller providers would “have no way of immediately providing this type of information” because they don't collect it in real-time.

FCC 911 Strike Force working groups are nearing completion of a report to Congress, due Sept. 23. Members told their Monday meeting some tough issues remain to be worked out. This was the strike force’s second meeting, with the last to come next month. Members said despite the FCC push, fee diversion continues. The report is mandated by 2020's Don’t Break Up the T-Band Act.

It's not just congressional Democrats upset about wireless industry lobbying and other efforts to keep a lower lid on customer surcharges for mental-health services related to hotlines, we found. State legislators are also irked, they said in recent interviews. Federal lawmakers continue to be upset, they said.