AT&T asked the FCC to "promptly" issue a declaratory ruling pre-empting "state discrimination" against VoIP customers, posted in docket 19-44 Monday. Alabama 911 districts wrote Sept. 10 (see 1909110027). The sides disagree on whether states have authority to require interconnected VoIP providers bill 911 charges to customers. AT&T said "there is no room for states to make policy decisions that result in discrimination against VoIP customers, because Congress has prohibited such discrimination."

Addressing better emergency alert origination and possible security risks 5G networks might inherit from previous communications networks, the FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council will issue reports next year and into early 2021, said CSRIC working group chairmen Tuesday. The 2018 false emergency alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054) shows there's no good emergency alert system differentiation between tests and actual alerts, said Craig Fugate, former Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator. Broadcasters voluntarily carry alerts, and without a strong working relationship between them and originators, there's a risk of fatigue, especially for amber and silver alerts, he said. Fugate said focus also is needed on cybersecurity and spoofing, to be sure alert originators are authenticated. He said the working group plans to produce recommendations by September 2020. Broadcasters increasingly use social media to communicate when they lose power to transmitters, newsrooms or towers due to disasters or major weather events, and social media will be a focus of reports on improving broadcast resiliency, said Florida Association of Broadcasters President Pat Roberts. It will look at updated best practices for prepping for natural disasters, he said. Its draft is due in January and final report in March, he said. Two working groups are looking at 5G security. Nsight Chief Technical Officer Lee Thibaudeau said network architectures sometimes incorporate security risks from other networks, and in 5G's case that could lead to confidentiality and network availability issues. He said the group looking at 5G vulnerabilities possibly carried forward from other wireless networks expects to have a report in June on those risks, followed by December 2020 recommendations on updates to 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards. Qualcomm Director-Engineering Farrokh Khatibi said his group's related reports on risks potentially introduced by 3GPP standards will come in September 2020, and on ways of mitigating those in March 2021. The 911 move from legacy to IP networks carries potential security risks, especially when those networks are blended, said Mary Boyd, West Safety Services vice president-government and regulatory affairs. A working group report identifying the security risks in legacy, transition and next-generation 911 networks is expected in June, she said, followed by a December report measuring the risk magnitude and remediation costs. Verisign Chief Security Officer Danny McPherson said a report on session initiation protocol security vulnerabilities that could affect communication service provision is expected by March 2021.

Staff is entering the second phase of a lengthy process to update the FCC's main filing system. After spending about a year on internal communications and other early work, agency employees are now poised to speak with external stakeholders. The update may include ways to help prevent the agency's filing system from being overwhelmed with fraudulent or spam comments that could slow it down, and it could register users, officials told the agency's Consumer Advisory Committee. Unlike past filing system revamps, this one may have bigger changes, staff told CAC.

CTIA told an aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai that work remains before carriers can consistently transmit vertical location data on 911 calls to public safety answering points. "Consider a phased-in approach that reflects the nascent and evolving state of commercially available vertical location technologies that will be demonstrated in the upcoming 9-1-1 Location Accuracy Test Bed LLC’s Stage Za,” it recommended, posted Thursday in docket 07-114. Carriers' June comments supported a 3-meter standard for indoor wireless 911 calls, saying technological challenges need solving (see 1906190011).

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly wants a U.S. unified nonemergency wireless number. Keep 911 for emergencies, yet "streamline the myriad of existing wireless numbers that are used in many parts of the country to report critical situations that do not rise to the level of true emergencies,” he told the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Emergency Number Association Thursday. “These calls offload routine incidents and other non-emergencies, usually to the state police or highway patrol, while preserving 9-1-1 for more serious purposes.” Many states have a number, including #77 in Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey for dangerous driving, he said. “If you live close to state lines, jurisdictional boundaries, or travel extensively, good luck remembering all of the different short codes,” he said. O’Rielly also highlighted the work he did to fight 911 fee diversion and that colleagues of both parties are against such fee shifting. ATSC 3.0 offers “super-advanced emergency alerting” beyond what's available on most platforms, he said. “No one is quite sure how ATSC 3.0 will develop, if at all, or whether it will be a smashing success,” he said: “While a number of the larger broadcast station groups have embraced the technology and see the benefits that it can bring, the technology remains in the testing phase.”

Clarify the technical definition of interconnected VoIP and authority states have over emergency communications funding policy (see 1903290030), Alabama 911 districts continue asking, posted Wednesday to docket 19-44. They said the FCC should rule that if it pre-empts any state law, "it does not preempt a state's authority to impose 911 fees on a different per unit basis for IVoIP than is used for traditional telephone service." A proposal from AT&T's BellSouth "would disrupt current 911 funding and impose a heavy-handed federal mandate," it said. The districts responded to recent ex parte from phone companies on a petition for declaratory ruling after Autauga County Emergency Management Communication District et al v. BellSouth (No. 2:15-cv-00765-SGC).

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly blasted Montana 911 fee diversion. “Initiate a process to reverse this blatant misappropriation of funds and provide a firm commitment that such a practice will not occur again,” the GOP commissioner wrote Gov. Steve Bullock (D), released Tuesday. Citing 2018 filings, O’Rielly said the state diverted $2 million in 2017 (see 1812190059) and the governor’s office sought to divert more. Montana officials reportedly “intended to use the 9-1-1 fee diversion to help right-size the number of college professors in the Montana University System, including by pursuing buy-outs,” O’Rielly wrote Monday, saying it would be very "egregious." He called “completely inaccurate” the state’s claims that diversion “would not jeopardize Montana’s eligibility for federal grants to modernize its 9-1-1 systems.” The state already “lost out on a portion” of a $109 million grant program, he said. Bullock’s office didn’t comment.

Lyft added access to 911 from its app, it emailed Tuesday. "Emergency assistance -- available to all riders today -- gives you a clear view of your current location and vehicle information, including the license plate, so you can quickly share with dispatchers." All app safety features will include "a way for both drivers and riders to reach 911," blogged President John Zimmer. The company got attention for not offering such capability, while Uber did (see 1902280029). Lyft didn't comment further now.

Convo disagrees with Sorenson (see 1908060026) that at-home interpreters should be required to transfer emergency calls for video relay service customers, the company said Friday to docket 10-51. "A significant number of emergency calls do not start out as a 911 dial, such as callers connecting with a medical provider and subsequently asking the video interpreter to immediately dial 911 in a sequential call following the medical providers' instructions." Convo wants clarification at-home video interpreters can transfer emergency calls when circumstances warrant and when there are video interpreters at a call center.

Frontier North Telephone's use of bill credits to compensate for inadequate consumer service is wrong and the company must provide adequate phone service, motioned the Office of Ohio Consumers' Counsel to intervene Friday in Public Utilities Commission of Ohio v. Frontier North, No. 19-1111582-TP-COC. "The monthly customer credits required by the PUCO's rules when telephone companies like Frontier fail to restore basic service in a timely manner are little consolation to consumers if their health and well-being are endangered because they lack phone service." An Aug. 14 complaint from PUCO staff outlined allegations of Frontier's "failure to provide available, adequate, and reliable basic telephone service to Ohio customers." The complaint alleged Frontier routinely failed to repair phone service outages in a timely manner. Public safety was jeopardized, OCC said, especially in rural areas without other options for phone service or access to 911. Frontier did not comment immediately.