911 to Get Vote at Delayed December FCC Meeting
The FCC will vote on a notice of inquiry at its December meeting designed to push 911 into the broadband age, Chairman Julius Genachowski said Tuesday. The announcement answers in part the question of what will be on the agenda for December, the last open meeting of the year. The FCC also said the meeting is delayed from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21, amidst growing speculation that the main order of business will be a vote on net neutrality rules (CD Nov 22 p1).
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Numerous groups have been in to meet with top advisors to Genachowski in recent days about his latest neutrality proposal. FCC officials said late Tuesday it looks increasingly likely a vote on net neutrality will occur at the December meeting.
"We continue to believe FCC Chairman Genachowski is looking to move a network neutrality order under a Title I framework, which could remove Title II broadband regulatory overhang that has been of particular concern to cable,” Stifel Nicolaus said in a research note. The firm predicted the order will build on provisions in legislation by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. “While an FCC Title I order would lift the Title II cloud from broadband providers, the substance is still in play. Our sense is the chairman is considering an approach that would generally bar unreasonable wireline broadband discrimination but not prohibit specialized/managed services, leaving those to be monitored and dealt with case by case, if necessary."
While it’s not as hot a topic as net neutrality, Genachowski made clear Tuesday he views updating 911 as critical. The National Broadband Plan recommended that the FCC launch a proceeding on broadband and emergency communications. “The current 911 system is efficient and reliable -- handling more than 650,000 calls a day,” Genachowski said at an event Tuesday morning in Arlington, Va. “But today’s 911 system doesn’t support the communication tools of tomorrow. Many 911 call centers don’t even have broadband, and some are in communities where broadband isn’t even available. That is unacceptable.” He said 650,000 911 calls are made every day in the U.S, and 450,000 are made using cellphones.
Genachowski said when people get in trouble they can text anyone but a 911 call center. “The Virginia Tech campus shootings in 2007 are a tragic, real-life reminder of the technological limitations that 911 is now saddled with,” he said. “Some students and witnesses tried to text 911 during that emergency and as we know, those messages never went through and were never received by local 911 dispatchers.” The ability to text is especially important for the deaf and other people with disabilities, Genachowski said.
The NOI will ask questions about how the system can be changed to allow the public to send text messages, data, video and photos to public safety answering points, Genachowski said. For example, he said, a caller could transmit the photo of a car leaving the scene of an armed robbery.
The NOI will also ask questions about emergency calls from devices other than phones, including environmental sensors capable of detecting chemicals, highway cameras, security cameras, alarms, personal medical devices and consumer electronic systems in cars, Genachowski said.