A Pa. Senate committee advanced a bill to require VoIP providers collecting E-911 fees from customers to send them to the state treasurer. The bill (SB-936) would cap the VoIP E-911 fee at $1 monthly per line. Under the bill, approved by the Senate Communications & Technology Committee, the state Emergency Management Agency would oversee the VoIP E-911 fund and oversee distribution of VoIP fee revenues to counties. The state fee, listed as a separate line item on bills, would be in addition to any other 911 fees providers bills.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) Board approved the “interim” VoIP architecture for E-911, as i2. NENA said adoption of the interim standard is a “migratory step” toward a more long-range solution under which all E- 911 will be IP-based. One VoIP operator source said the development provides “further stability” for the industry. Patrick Halley, govt. affairs dir. at NENA, said the plan provides the basic standard for “how you connect an IP- enabled voice service into the legacy 911 system, which is all analog, circuit-switched technology.” Many VoIP providers have already adopted parts of the standard as they developed plans for complying with FCC requirements they make their systems E-911 compliant, and now they may be more likely to adopt the entire standard, Halley told us. Most of the leading VoIP providers and all the major VoIP position companies like Intrado participated in development of the standard, he said. Halley predicted that parts of the emergency system will be modernized quickly. “In the near future a lot of the stuff we're talking about can be implemented,” he said. “NENA’s vision since the development of the 911 Future Path Plan in 2001 has been, and continues to be, to modernize E- 911,” said Billy Ragsdale, chmn. of the NENA Technical Committee: “The interim solution standard is the first major step to support VoIP E-911 and to redesign E-911 for present and future needs.”

Communications law should reflect competitive reality and Congress should update accordingly, Sen. Nelson (D- Fla.) said in a letter Wed. to Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) and Co-Chmn. Inouye (D-Hawaii). Nelson has a plan that would protect basic phone service, set state and U.S. consumer protection standards, provide video franchise relief that guards municipal control of rights-of-way, update the E-rate program, empower municipalities to offer broadband and ensure all communications services provide 911 and E-911.

Qwest said it restored 911 service early Mon. to 18,000 customers along the Ore.-Wash. line after apparent vandalism severed a fiber 911 trunk near Longview, Wash. Most affected customers were on the Wash. side. Worst hit towns were Castle Rock, Kalama and Rainier, all in Wash., but other customers on the Columbia River as far as 50 miles away also were affected. The disruption, late Sun. night, affected only 911 service. Local 7-digit emergency numbers still worked.

Reports by more than 180 VoIP providers on their E- 911 compliance now on the FCC website included at least 12 wanting waivers of the Nov. 28 deadline for full compliance. The FCC in early Nov. told providers they would have to stop marketing their services to new customers in any areas where they have not achieved full E-911 coverage by deadline -- though Vonage, for one, has said it plans to keep marketing while its waiver request is pending. Vonage said 125 staff members have been working on E-911 compliance and the firm now can link more than 90% of subscriber lines to selective routers. Even so, only 26% of customer lines “will have the benefit of E911 call delivery to capable PSAPs as of [Nov. 28].” The firm said it has been “hampered primarily by factors outside of its direct or immediate control.” For example, it was able to establish connectivity with selective routers, but “provisioning times, lack of ILEC and PSAP readiness and/or cooperation, and other obstacles have hampered Vonage’s ability to establish 100 percent call deliver to PSAPs.” Vonage asked for “a limited extension of time,” saying it expects about 61% of subscriber lines to have E-911 call delivery to capable PSAPs by the end of Dec., and 90% by mid-2006. Flint Telecom said it needs a 6-month waiver because it is having trouble finding a 3rd- party provider to help it reach nationwide E-911 coverage. The Utah-based firm “quickly recognized we did not have the legal authority to enable us to interconnect directly with selective routers within the E-911 network,” it said. In addition, it lacks resources to develop its own technical solution within the 4-month FCC time period. The company did find a 3rd-party provider of E-911 services, but it will take 2-6 months to complete the coverage, it said. “The actual timescales are dependent upon a number of factors, not the least the level of cooperation from ILECs.” Eureka Telecom said it needs an 18-month extension because it can’t comply fully for 1% of customers by the deadline. Eureka, which serves commercial customers, said it has another problem: Its service is non-portable, so its customers are covered if they stay within Eureka’s service area but not if they move outside the area.

VoIP provider 8x8 told the FCC it has provisioned nomadic E-911 emergency calling throughout its network of residential and business Packet8 subscribers. The firm said this means it met the FCC’s Nov. 28 deadline for enabling customers to reach emergency service personnel directly dialing 911. E-911 service used to be offered as an option, said 8x8, one of dozens of VoIP providers who filed reports. Comcast said it’s “proud to affirm that 911 and E-911 functionality have been included as a feature of its interconnected VoIP service from the outset” making the company 100% compliant with the FCC requirements. Comcast said it uses the same way to provide 911 service as circuit-switched phone firms use. Cypress, which offers in-building communications services, said it’s 93% compliant and would be adding E-911 capability in more areas of the country early next year. Several VoIP providers who couldn’t meet the deadline asked the FCC for waivers to extend the deadline. Vonage said it was 90% compliant and asked the FCC for a waiver to extend the deadline. Vonage Senior Vp Brooke Schulz said the company expects full compliance by mid-2006. “Even wireline companies don’t have 100% compliance” because the needed technology is lacking in some areas of the country, Schulz said.

VoIP providers began reporting to the FCC late last week on their efforts to meet a mandate that service territories be fully E-911 compliant by today (Nov. 28). The FCC has told VoIP firms they must stop marketing to new customers if they can’t offer E-911 to all current customers by today. Dozens of VoIP companies are set to report by end of business today, giving a snapshot of how well providers are complying with the rule and the tools they're using to provide E-911. Some providers will miss the mark, due to trouble getting access to selective routers, reliance on 3rd-party vendors that can’t offer full compliance and other factors, sources say.

The FCC should assume the Senate’s E-911 bill will become law, Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R- Alaska) and 10 other senators wrote in a bipartisan letter to FCC Chmn. Martin recently. The bill (S-1063), which would require VoIP providers to give customers access to E-911 services, was unanimously reported out of committee Nov. 2. “Although it is unlikely that S-1063 will become law by Nov. 28, we have no reason to believe that it will not eventually be signed into law,” the letter said, urging the commission to shape its policies based on the legislation. Nov. 28 is the FCC’s deadline for VoIP providers to be in full compliance with E-911 deployment.

PALM SPRINGS, Cal. -- The telecom market 10 years from now will be very different from today, but there still will be a role for regulators, said speakers at a panel looking toward telecom in 2015 that concluded the NARUC annual convention here.

The Dept. of Justice urged the FCC late Mon. to expand the pool of Internet providers subject to CALEA requirements by applying CALEA to a broader segment of VoIP services as well as to carriers that resell broadband Internet access services. Although few IP providers were prepared to respond Tues., one said privately that some of DoJ’s ideas could end “the notion of a minimally-regulated Internet.”