The FCC extended until Oct. 28, 2006 a Dec. 31 deadline for 7 Tier III wireless carriers using handset- based solutions to hit 95% penetration among subscribers with location-capable handsets. The FCC reset the deadline in response to waiver requests by Mid-Missouri Cellular, Lyrix, North West Missouri Cellular Limited Partnership, Cellular 29 Plus and 3 firms in the Ill. Valley Cellular Partnership. Relief came under the Enhanced 911 Act, under which the Commission must grant E- 911 waivers on penetration rate if strict enforcement could “result in consumers having decreased access to emergency services.” That’s a risk for Tier III carriers, often active in rural areas where analog coverage often is better than digital. “If required to transition analog subscribers to digital CDMA handsets in the most rural portions of their service areas, some subscribers would be unable to complete a phone call at all, including emergency calls,” the FCC said. The applicants didn’t show a “clear path to full compliance” with the E-911 Phase II rules, as the agency’s traditional E-911 waiver standard requires. The FCC conditionally granted the waivers under the Enhanced 911 Act, which is specific to Tier III carriers. As a condition of the relief, the FCC said it expected petitioners to “actively inform and educate their customers concerning the advantages of having location-capable handsets, and to keep the PSAPs located within their service areas abreast of their progress in achieving 95% penetration.” The FCC required each petitioner to file quarterly status reports for 2 years starting Nov. 1.

NENA has formed a task force to set up a national cadre of telecommunicator emergency response teams to safeguard 911 service during crises. The group, made up of NENA and APCO state representatives, met Oct. 25 in Greensboro, N.C., and will meet Jan. 23 in Anaheim during the Cal. NENA chapter annual meeting. The aim is to help states prepare “deploy trained, recognized teams of telecommunicators whenever a local 911 infrastructure is compromised by a natural disaster or terrorist event,” NENA said.

Three states acted on universal service issues. The Iowa Utilities Board adopted modified FCC guidelines for minimum requirements carriers must meet to be designated an eligible telecom carrier (ETC). The IUB said its standards partly overlap the FCC guidelines for service quality, local usage, emergency service access, answer time and retail locations. But the state in Case RMU-05-4 adopted different reporting requirements. Under the IUB rules, ETCs must report monthly minutes of use on ETC- eligible service, listing each exchange where the ETC provides enhanced 911, average hold time at customer service centers and a complete listing of carrier-owned retail locations. The state also required competitive ETCs to certify annually that they offer a local usage plan comparable to the incumbent telco’s offering. The IUB said it plans a further docket to see if the state should adopt all the FCC-recommended reporting requirements and follow the FCC guidelines for public interest determinations, coverage and buildout plans, and annual certifications. The new rules take effect Dec. 14 with the first reports due next Sept. The Kan. Corporation Commission called for comment by Nov. 30 in a new docket on implementing an April state appeals court ruling affecting distribution of state universal service subsidies. The Kan. Court of Appeals ruling required that state universal service high-cost subsidies be distributed in a competitively neutral fashion. The court invalidated the state plan to base incumbent carriers’ subsidy on embedded costs, while CLECs’ subsidy was based on their line count, and remanded the matter back to the regulators. The KCC asked parties in Case 06-GIMT-390-GIT to comment on what distribution methods could be considered neutral, and whether the matter can wait until the FCC finishes pending revisions to the federal universal service program. The Wash. Utilities & Transportation Commission called for comments by Nov. 14 on a draft proposal for requirements applicants must meet to be designated an ETC. The proposal would require ETC applicants to describe how they'll provide each supported service, detail their network investment plans for their first 2 years as an ETC, provide information on how they'll maintain functional service in emergencies and disasters and how they aim to ensure they comply with consumer protection and service quality rules. They also will have to report annually on how they plan to use their federal universal service subsidies and how those expenditures will benefit customers.

The Ariz. Corporation Commission plans to open hearings Nov. 1 on an agreement between Qwest and the commission staff for a 3-year extension of Qwest’s price regulation program. The proposal would allow Qwest a total $43.8 million revenue increase through rate increases to business, toll and optional services in the course of the extension. But basic exchange service directory assistance and 911 would remain frozen. Qwest in Ariz. operates under a unique system mixing rate-of- return with price caps.

Telenor said FCC E-911 requirements are inconsistent with its service offerings, urging the Commission not to extend its E-911 mandates for VoIP to Telenor’s VoIP services at sea. In a 2003 E-911 order, the Commission exempted Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) carriers from 911 requirements for maritime service because ships rely on the Global Marine Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). In the order, the Commission said if a 911 emergency system overlapped with GMDSS, confusion might result. Telenor said its VoIP terminals for ships technically are Fixed Satellite Services (FSS), not MSS, but they operate in the maritime environment, where customers use GMDSS. When Telenor installs equipment on ships, it reminds customers that it’s for personal use, not for distress and safety, the firm said. Telenor asked to be allowed to keep that approach, and asked the Commission to confirm that its 2005 order doesn’t apply to VoIP at sea.

A new bill in the year-round Pa. legislature would require VoIP providers interconnected with the public switched telephone network to collect and remit to the state a $1 monthly E-911 surcharge per subscriber phone number. The legislation (SB-936) is similar to a 2003 E- 911 surcharge law for wireless carriers. The funds collected from VoIP providers would be apportioned to counties through the state Emergency Management Agency, as is done for wireless collections. Supporters said the bill would put VoIP providers on the same footing as landline and wireless carriers regarding E-911 surcharges. The state surcharge would be listed as a separate line item on VoIP service bills and would be in addition to any fee already levied by the provider for provisioning 911 service. If the bill doesn’t advance this year, it would be carried over to the 2006 session.

SANTA CLARA, Cal.-- The U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C., will be asked, probably next week, to stay FCC 911 requirements for VoIP service, said CEO Jason Talley of Nuvio, among providers challenging the order. Nuvio will ask the court to stay the entire order -- though the firm has been hewing to a mandate that it notify customers of emergency calling limitations and seek their acknowledgments. The Nov. 28 deadline for E-911 looms as the big problem, Talley told us after a presentation Wed. to ISPCon here. A stay would give Congress a chance to intervene, he said.

Finding ways to keep communications service up during extended power outages is one of the industry’s priorities, officials said at an NRIC meeting Wed. -- the first since recent hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused massive communications failures.

An equipment failure in a Verizon central office in Long Beach, Cal., knocked out toll service and impaired landline 911 service for thousands of customers in parts of Long Beach and 9 adjacent communities in southeastern Los Angeles County and northern Orange County from about 3 a.m. through the Tues. morning rush hour. More than 10,000 customers were affected. Local calls were possible but not toll or long distance, and 911 calls normally routed over toll trunks couldn’t go through. The failure didn’t affect 911 access on cellphones, and most local non-emergency numbers of public safety agencies continued to work. The affected communities activated their emergency backup communications and increased patrols, and publicized their local numbers through the media.

A draft Senate DTV bill would set April 7, 2009, as the hard transition date for requiring broadcasters to return analog spectrum to the govt., according to a copy of the bill circulated Fri. on Capitol Hill. The bill would put the Dept. of Commerce in charge of subsidies for consumer purchases of converter boxes to allow analog TVs to display digital signals. Commerce also would oversee conversion of low-power TV stations and TV translator stations from analog to digital, follow-through on the Enhance 911 Act of 2004, promotion of emergency communications and aid to coastal states affected by hurricanes. The bill sets Jan. 28, 2008, for the start of licenses of recovered spectrum.