NENA provides input on proposed NG911 funding

National Emergency Number Association (NENA) CEO Brian Fontes this week sent a letter to key Senate leaders that expresses support for federal funding for deployment of next-generation 911 (NG911) technology throughout the U.S. but appears to seek some changes in the legislative language pending in the Senate.

Much-anticipated federal funding for NG911 currently is included the “Spectrum Innovation Act” that was approved by the House in July as H.R. 7624. If enacted under its current language, Congress would extend the FCC’s spectrum-auction authority—currently slated to expire at the end of this month—for 18 months and would require the FCC to conduct an auction of at least 200 MHz of spectrum in the 3.1-3.45 GHz band.

Proceeds from the 3.1-3.45 GHz auction would be used to address the $3.4 billion shortfall in the FCC’s “rip and replace” program that is designed to rid U.S. commercial networks of “untrusted” equipment, according to language in H.R. 7624. As much as $10 billion in the remaining proceeds from the auction would be dedicated to funding the NG911 transition at 911 centers throughout the U.S.

In his letter to Senate leaders, Fontes expressed support on behalf of NENA for federal funding to pay for NG911 deployments—the kind of 911 funding that NENA and Fontes have been seeking from Congress for more than a decade.

“Notwithstanding the rise of wireless connectivity, many public-safety answering points continue to use legacy telephone technologies that are limited to voice calls—preventing callers from sending multimedia and not providing the same level of service consumer technologies offer,” Fontes states in the letter.

“We cannot wait any longer to modernize America’s outdated 911 infrastructure.”

To this end, Fontes’ letter states that NENA would like NG911 funding legislation to include language that ensures that “auction proceeds be used to fully fund NG911 technology, with the following transition priorities:

• That rural, suburban, urban and tribal communities will be able to receive, process and respond to NG911 calls;
• That the transition from existing legacy 911 systems to NG911 technology will be overseen by professionals with experience in the 911 field;
• That the 911 Implementation and Coordination Office—shared between the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)—will be involved in the decision-making process for NG911 implementation; and
• That the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will continue to ensure operability of our nation’s emergency communication system during NG911 transition.”

At least two of these “transition priorities” seem to echo positions taken by the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) in its letter last month to Senate leaders about potential NG911 funding.

Like NASNA, NENA would like to see the NTIA/NHTSA 911 Program Office continue to play a key role instead of having NTIA provide the sole oversight of an NG911 grant initiative, according to the Fontes letter. In addition, the NENA letter appears to support NASNA’s belief that a separate NG911 cybersecurity center—something that would be established under H.R. 7624—is necessary, given the role that CISA plays today in that area.

One aspect of the NASNA letter to the Senate that is not found in the NENA letter from Fontes is any mention of the NENA i3 standard—the IP-based network architecture for NG911 that was accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) last year.

The second bullet point among the “transition priorities” appears to reference a concern that NENA officials expressed about potential NG911 funding legislation more than a year ago: that people serving on any NG911 advisory committee should have hands-on technical experience with 911 systems.

In addition to the letters from NENA and NASNA, Senate leadership also has received a letter about potential NG911 funding from the Public Safety Next Generation 911 Coalition, which represents a group of several public-safety associations.

Sent last month, the coalition’s letter asks the Senate for $15 billion in NG911 funding, instead of the $10 billion that is included in the current bill.

In addition, the coalition asked that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) be allowed to borrow funds immediately, as opposed to waiting for the FCC auction to be completed—a process that could take several years—to initiate the proposed grant program.

Neither NASNA nor NENA mentioned any of these coalition priorities in their letters to the Senate.

NENA’s letter about possible NG911 funding was received as the Senate returned to Capitol Hill this week after an August recess. The Senate is scheduled to remain in session throughout September before halting legislative work for much of October, allowing for many to campaign for the upcoming November elections.

If it wants to pass the Spectrum Innovation Act before the FCC auction authority expires on Sept. 30, the Senate has 14 business days remaining under the current schedule to move the legislation through the committee process, conduct a floor vote and—if necessary—complete any conference-committee work. If there is a desire to have President Joe Biden sign the bill into law by Sept. 30, that timetable would need to be accelerated.

However, there may not be an urgent need to extend the FCC auction authority by the Sept. 30 expiration date, given that the 2.5 GHz auction has been completed, and there are no near-term plans for other spectrum auctions.

If the Sept. 30 date is not significant to lawmakers, the Senate has nine business days scheduled in October before the mid-term elections. After the election, the Senate is slated to work for 23 days before the session ends.

Any legislation that does not pass by the end of the session would have to be reintroduced in the next Congress for consideration.