FCC preparing to tackle 911 reliability during November meeting

Other questions asked in the NPRM will address notification. The proceeding will explore what kind of notification is appropriate to inform the public of major changes in 911 service, as well as what kind of notification third-party vendors and service providers should provide PSAPs and public-safety officials when a 911 outage occurs.

In a separate item regarding the transition of communications networks to next-generation architecture, the FCC would address the ability for consumers to call 911 during a power outage.

Copper-based telephony services provided power to a landline phone separate from the power grid, but that is not the case with IP-based landline services. In the proposed item, the FCC asks whether backup-battery requirements should be adopted, as well as asking what are the appropriate roles for consumers and service providers to ensure that backup power is available during power outages.

In his blog, Wheeler said that these items and others before the commission “turn on simple precepts that go to the heart of the public interest: Technology transitions will be speeded by technology-neutral rules that promote, preserve, and protect the enduring values that consumers have rightly come to expect, and chief among them is the ability to reach emergency responders and the ability to choose products and services in a competitive market.

“Technology must improve; these values must be protected; these items demonstrate how both can go hand-in-hand.”