House Budget Proposes $10B for NG911

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The House Energy & Commerce Committee released its portion of the Budget Reconciliation Act on August 24, which appropriates $10 billion for Next Generation 911 (“NG911”).  The funds are to remain available until September 30, 2026 and be used for equipment and services to implement, operate, and maintain NG911 and to cover associated training costs.  The bill also provides an additional $80 million to establish the Next Generation 9-1-1 Cybersecurity Center to coordinate with government officials on cybersecurity guidelines and prevention tactics as well as $20 million in funding to establish a 16-member Public Safety Next Generation 9-1-1 Advisory Board to make recommendations for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

VA 757/948 Area Code Overlay – REMINDER – Alarm, Security, and Elevator Letter

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Please reference this letter for information about the Virginia 757/948 area code overlay as it relates to actions that may need to be taken by providers of Alarm, Security, and Elevator equipment.

Beginning on September 11, 2021, it is imperative that alarm, security, and elevator alarm companies reprogram alarm panels in their customers’ premises if they currently are programed to dial out seven digits to reach the alarm monitoring bureau.  If they are dialing out seven digits now, they must be reprogrammed to dial out a ten-digit number which includes the 757 area code plus telephone number.

As co-chairs of the Industry’s Virginia 757/948 Area Code Overlay Relief Implementation Committee, we request that you please share the attached information with your membership to advise them of the start of permissive 10-digit dialing on 9/11/2021.  Prior to the start of Mandatory Dialing in April 2022, we will modify this notice and send it to you for a second distribution.

If you have any questions, please contact us:

Co-Chairs for the VA 757/948 Area Code Overlay Industry Committee

Laura Dalton, Verizon
914-821-9686
Laura.r.Dalton@verizon.com           

Nicole Febles, T-Mobile
973-960-0913
nicole.febles@t-mobile.com

 

AICC News – Reminder: DC 202/771 Area Code Overlay

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DOWNLOAD LETTER – This letter contains information about the District of Columbia 202/771 area code overlay as it relates to Alarm and Security Service Providers.

As co-chairs of the Industry’s DC 202/771 Area Code Overlay Implementation Committee, Karen Riepenkroger of T-Mobile and I would appreciate your assistance in sending out the attached letter to your membership reminding burglar and fire alarm companies and security providers of the start of mandatory 10-digit dialing in the DC 202 area on 10/9/2021.

It is imperative that alarm companies reprogram alarm panels in customers’ premises if they currently are programmed to dial out seven digits to reach the alarm monitoring bureau.  If they are dialing out seven digits now, they must be reprogrammed to dial out a ten-digit number which includes the 202 area code plus telephone number.

No change is needed if the alarm panels are currently dialing out ten-digits, or if they are dialing out a toll free number (800, 888, 844, etc.) to reach the alarm monitoring bureau.

More details are contained in the letter referenced above.  Please distribute this note and letter to all Alarm and Security Providers in the DC 202 area.

If you have any questions, please contact:

DC 202/771 Industry Committee Co-Chairs

Laura Dalton, Verizon
914-821-9686
laura.r.dalton@verizon.com

Karen Riepenkroger
913-315-8546
karen.s.riepenkroger@t-mobile.com

Legislative News from AICC, July 20th

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HOUSE EYES FIGHT TO MANAGE AMERICA’S AIRWAVES — The House Science Committee will today dive into the thorny issue of how much wireless spectrum is needed for earth and space sciences. But the session is likely to raise tougher underlying questions — how the U.S. governs its airwaves and steps that the Biden administration and Congress should take to fix what’s increasingly proven a messy system.

— Spectrum wars among U.S. agencies dominated the Trump era , partly a consequence of competing demands for a limited resource. Spectrum is needed not only for feeding data-ravenous wireless demand — you can thank 5G and the rise of Wi-Fi — but also for satellites, intelligent transportation, GPS and other critical infrastructure needs. These disagreements have pitted the FCC, which regulates commercial airwaves, against federal agencies including the Commerce, Defense and Transportation departments.

— The Biden administration, however, has yet to name leaders to spearhead the management of this resource at two critical agencies — the FCC as well as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which manages government-held spectrum on behalf of the executive branch.

— Witnesses will sound the alarm about the state of spectrum affairs: One witness is the author of a Government Accountability Office report, released Monday, that makes 11 recommendations for improving the United States’ chaotic management. It notes “protracted interagency disagreements” that create confusion over what global telecom positions the U.S. even holds.

And EchoStar Senior Vice President Jennifer Manner will urge lawmakers to have the FCC and NTIA meet more frequently, according to written testimony shared with MT. She’ll also lament that U.S. representation in global telecom standards bodies “is often outnumbered by our Chinese competitors.”

— GAO “makes clear that a number of federal agencies have a lot of work to do to improve the process,” committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson(D-Texas) will say in her opening statement. “This Committee will be asking for accountability from both federal science agencies and the FCC as we all learn to live in a more crowded spectrum neighborhood.” Her panel had requested the GAO review following concerns over whether commercial 5G in the 24 GHz band would disrupt weather forecasting.

— Although the administration has said it wants a comprehensive spectrum strategy (as the prior one did), it has yet to unveil anything. “NTIA needs to drive the bus on coming up with that whole-of-government strategy,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Congress more than two months ago. We’ve already seen the lack of Biden nominees snarl Senate-side efforts to reform U.S. airwaves management.

Industry Heavyweights Back US 6G Research Project

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Source: Mobile World Live, provided courtesy of AICC

AT&T, Nvidia, Samsung America, Qualcomm and InterDigital threw their weight behind a 6G research project in the US, as the global battle to lead in wireless technology beyond 5G continues to heat up.

The center at the University of Texas will go under the name of 6G@UT and aims to establish the groundwork for the new technology.

Each of the founding companies will sponsor at least two specific three-year projects, alongside working with academics on the development of advanced technologies. These include new sensing methods, wireless-specific machine learning algorithms and networking innovations.

Announcing the launch of the project, the University of Texas wireless networking and communications group noted the facility had been founded as an effort to “cement its leadership in wireless innovation” with new technologies including self-driving cars, flying taxis and holographic conferencing on the horizon.

It also noted part of the research would cover use of terahertz bands, which it expects will “allow carriers to better monitor the quality of their networks in different places, from office towers to busy downtown areas to far-flung rural locales”.

Next generation networks “will be loaded with radar, vision, audio, lidar, thermal, seismic and broadband software-defined radio sensors that will provide unprecedented situational awareness to applications and devices running on the network”, the university added.

The project is the latest move in the race to 6G with alliances of major corporations, governments and research facilities vying to lead on development of the new network technology, get a head start on developing use cases and shape the latest wireless technology.

Notable moves include US collaboration The Next G Alliance, an operator supported RISE-6G research project in the European Union and various state-backed R&D efforts in China.

Reassigned Numbers Database Available for Beta Testing, 7/1

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A public notice came out last week announcing a beta test of the Reassigned Numbers Database from July 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. Callers can use the database free of charge during this time. If your company does telemarketing, you may want to test it.

Please contact Salvatore Taillefer <sta@bloostonlaw.com> for more information.

PUBLIC NOTICE

TMA Welcomes its 89th ECC to ASAP Service

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The Mecklenburg County VA Emergency Communications Center is the 89th ECC in the United States and the 17th ECC in the state of Virginia to implement the Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP). Mecklenburg County went live on Monday, June 21st with Rapid Response Monitoring, Vector Security, Richmond Alarm, Stanley Security, Guardian Protection, Affiliated Monitoring, Tyco (Johnson Controls), Vivint, National Monitoring Center, Brinks Home Security, Protection One, CPI Security, Security Central, and ADT. Those companies will be followed by Securitas at a later date.

Director Ben Duncan stated “ASAP to PSAP is a fantastic new addition to our Dispatch Center. We are constantly seeking innovative ways to get the calls for assistance out to our responders in a timely and efficient manner. The ASAP interface gives us the ability to dispatch alarms that took minutes in the past to seconds now.”

FCC Votes to Create Online Portal for Robocall, ID Spoofing Complaints

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The Federal Communications Commission has voted in an amendment Thursday to make it easier for people to submit complaints about suspected robocalls and call spoofing directly to the agency’s enforcement bureau.

Section 10(a) of the Traced Act, which is the agency’s tool to fight unlawful robocalls and spoofed caller ID, was enacted in a vote by the FCC and creates an online portal on the FCC website for individuals to submit information suspicious calls and texts.

The FCC will ask the complainant to provide information as to what ID information is displayed, the phone number, date, time, the complainant’s service provider and description of call or text.

“The new online portal will allow such entitles to alert agency investigators of concerning incidents, including floods of robocalls like those that have been known to clog up hospital lines,” according to an FCC news release.

The portal requires approval from the Office of Management and Budget before it takes effect, which is expected within 30 days.

Congress ordered the agency to develop a streamlined process for private entities about unlawful spoof calling and robocalls.

Commentators suggested that the FCC consolidate the new portal and existing complaint process to better distinguish the two.

With these concerns, the FCC has decided to adopt the SAFE Credit Union’s suggestion to include language that explains its use and helps distinguish the portal from the existing informal consumer complaint process.

The FCC stated in a report that timely and thorough information from private entities is crucial to mitigate robocall incidents and help bring swift enforcement.

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile settle with FCC over location data standoff

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By John Hendel  POLITICO

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile will each pay $100,000 to settle FCC investigations into the wireless carriers’ noncompliance with 2015 rules mandating they supply more granular customer 911 location data in the country’s 25 largest markets by this past April, the agency announced on Thursday.

Looking up: The FCC had demanded carriers provide more specific information to 911 call centers about how high up a caller might be, which can be vital context when a person calling 911 is in a tall building.

All three carriers had sought to waive this year’s April deadline, however, citing technical struggles during the pandemic and obstacles involving third parties like handset manufacturers and operating system developers. The wireless industry has also argued that 911 call centers aren’t yet fully equipped with technology to receive such data.

These arguments didn’t seem to persuade acting FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, who in April complained of “little progress” over the last few years and launched an inquiry.

The settlements announced Thursdayresolve those probes and deliver what the agency calls “life-saving commitments” from the carriers to now make available such vital consumer information within the next few days.

What the settlements require: The carriers now have to begin providing the best available customer location information, including how high up a caller might be, to 911 call centers nationwide within seven days of the settlements’ Thursday release. The companies also have to designate a compliance officer within the next 30 days and develop and implement a compliance plan.

The date by which carriers must “fully comply” with all 2015 location data requirements is now April 3, 2022, a year after the original deadline, according to the settlements. Carriers must certify such compliance with the FCC by June 2, 2022.

What Rosenworcel is saying now: “These settlements accomplish what has evaded the agency for too long: They ensure that the FCC, public safety and wireless carriers work together to immediately start delivering this information to first responders without further delay,” the acting chair said. “They also ensure that we are improving our 911 location accuracy capabilities everywhere in the country and not just in the top 25 markets. “

sunset, sea, horizon

Just Announced – Verizon to Delay 3G Sunset until Jan. 1, 2023

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AICC Chair Lou Fiore shared recently released news from Verizon of their delayed 3G Sunset target date today. In an article written by Mike Dano, Editorial Director for Light Reading, Verizon spokesperson Kevin King stated, “that’s the “absolute last possible date” for the shutdown.” Dano wrote, “Verizon continues to work to move customers off its […]

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