Senators prepare to introduce legislation to promote transition to next-gen 911
Language in the draft legislation proposed by Nelson and Klobuchar calls for the Next Generation 911 Implementation Coordination Office to create a “clearing house of information” that state, regional and local entities can leverage as they develop and deploy NG911 systems. The office would provide assistance on myriad matters, ranging from ideas associated with procurement, governance and deployments to ongoing issues related to operations and cybersecurity.
Some of this information is expected to come from the findings published last year by the FCC’s Task Force on Optimal PSAP Architecture (TFOPA), which examined the challenges associated with transitioning to NG911. However, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler noted that the FCC lacked the ability to make the TFOPA vision a reality and repeatedly called on Congress to take action.
“The commission has gone about as far as our authority can take it,” Wheeler said during a House subcommittee hearing. “Here’s the reality: Absent congressional action, there is no national program to improve public safety by applying the technology of next-generation 911. We’re in the second decade of the 21st Century, and we’re still relying on mid-20th Century technology.”
A year ago, the NG911 NOW coalition—led by the National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA), the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies (iCERT) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)—announced its creation and established a goal of all PSAPs in the U.S. completing the transition to NG911 by the end of 2020.
