FCC task force suggests NG911 funding model that includes fees for broadband connections

Alabama is making efforts to implement the fee, Jackson said. Placing the fee on broadband connections would simplify the enforcement of fees for the state, reducing the number of broadband and wireless networks assessed a 911 fee from 185 to about 20.

“It is different, but, at the end of the day, as technology advances, this is the one thing that remains neutral, simplifies it and works across all boards,” Jackson said. “We’re trying to collect 911 fees by throwing a fishing rod out and trying to catch every line. For the first time, we’re going to throw a net.”

Jones also addressed the widespread concern of 911 fee diversion. Though certain states have been identified by the FCC as having appropriated 911 funds for other uses, Jones and the funding group uncovered several instances of diversion that have not formally been recognized.

“There should be transparency regarding decisions legislators and officials make on priorities among projects in a difficult budget environment,” Jones said. “I have learned a great deal more about state budget practices—that are going on both transparently and not transparently—that take 911 funds and use them for other purposes … If this diversion and sweeping continues, or if the states do not have adequate resources to build out NG911 in a timely way, the nation is going to be stuck with two systems for a very long time.”

The working group recommends that the 911 funds be sustained in a fund outside of state general funds. Additionally, the working group recommends that the matter be reviewed by a new joint advisory committee of officials from the state, local and federal levels.

David Simpson, chief of the FCC’s public-safety and homeland-security bureau, said multiple times that the completed migration to NG911 must include the retirement of legacy 911, so PSAPs do not have fund and operate separate systems long term.

National Emergency Number Association (NENA) CEO Brian Fontes echoed this sentiment, proposing that a “line in the sand” deadline be established for PSAPs to complete the migration to next-gen 911 technology. Without such a deadline, officials may lack the incentives necessary to complete the migration in a timely manner, resulting in patchwork service offerings and financial resources being spent unnecessarily to accommodate legacy 911 systems for too long.

When TFOPA was created, FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly asked the task force to examine the notion of PSAP consolidation, noting that some experts believe that the entire nation could be served with as few as three PSAPs, instead of the more than 6,000 emergency call centers that exist today.

Jones said that his working group looked at PSAP consolidation, which already is happening in many parts of the country. Although there are benefits to PSAPs sharing resources—sometimes on a virtual basis—the working group’s final report will not include a recommendation about physical consolidation, he said.

 “We concluded that just talking about PSAP consolidation is not constructive,” Jones said. “We believe in a cooperative federalist approach that involves state and local government that have primary jurisdiction over 911…We’ve received evidence that PSAP consolidations do not translate into efficiencies and cost savings.”