New FCC rules bring deadlines for providers’ next-generation 911 upgrades

The Federal Communications Commission last week adopted rules that will set deadlines for phone service providers to upgrade their technology so that they can deliver next-generation 911 calls.

The new rules mark a major advance for the nation’s aged 911 infrastructure, which is largely based on copper telephone lines and outdated phone systems. The FCC’s new rules allow 911 jurisdictions — often statewide 911 authorities — to initiate countdowns until service providers in their jurisdictions must complete upgrading their equipment and begin fielding 911 calls on a digital platform that can handle photos, videos, location data and improved call routing.

At the demand of county or state 911 authorities, service providers will be required to complete two phases of upgrades, first to convert their systems to digital platforms and then to meet the complete requirements for international next-generation 911 standards. Most service providers will be allowed six months per phase, while smaller or rural providers will be allowed 12 months per phase.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in statement last Thursday that the new rules are “big.”

“It will provide improved support for voice, text, data, and video communications. It will mean more redundancy to protect against outages,” her statement read. “For those who call, it will mean the opportunity to provide real-time video of the emergency. It will mean the ability to provide first responders with instantaneous pictures. It will make it possible to transmit a patient’s medical records directly to 911 dispatchers. And for those who take calls in an emergency, all of this data can inform public safety efforts, improving emergency response and saving lives.”

She also called on Congress to approve funding for next-generation 911 through auctions of public wireless spectrum, which she said would be the fastest way to fund 911 upgrades.

A piecemeal, nationwide upgrade to next-generation 911 has been underway for years, though progress has been slow in absence of federal funding. And even with government agencies upgrading their outdated systems, delivering next-generation 911 calls won’t be possible until service providers complete their upgrades.

Brandon Abley, chief technology officer for the National Emergency Number Association, told StateScoop his organization has been advocating for rules very similar to those passed by the FCC last week. He said the approval marks “a huge milestone.”

“Local jurisdictions have been making these investments, as have [originating service providers], but there was not a national framework to compel the transition to get to the end-state, and that’s what this order does,” he said.

Abley said the new rules are also a win for providing the public with equal access to emergency services, because next-generation 911 includes better accessibility options, like text-to-911 and automatic language translation features that aren’t included in today’s 911 system.

“[Next-generation 911 is] more like an iMessages or Whatsapp, and provides access to people that just don’t have equal access to 911 right now,” he said.

Next-generation 911 is also designed to allow emergency call centers to more easily forward calls and caller information to other jurisdictions in cases when calls are forwarded to the wrong place or when there are outages.

At least three states — Alaska, Arizona and Oregon — experienced outages last week when third-party 911 services were disrupted by the global CrowdStrike outage. Abley said next-generation 911 would have been able to mitigate those outages better than states managed last week with their old technology.

“The e-911 infrastructure we use today is very old,” Abley said. “The technology is out of date. It’s similar to a bridge that works fine every day you drive over it, until it doesn’t. These infrastructure updates are badly needed.”