Emergency Communications

The Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau settled an investigation into AT&T Mobility’s 911 outages of March and May 2017.

In a new letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) submitted a slew of new questions concerning how the controversial stingray devices interact with the 911 emergency system. His inquiries come on the heels of efforts in May to scrutinize what the Department of Justice knows about the secretive use of these devices. In addition, Sen Wyden got a new amendment into an appropriations bill that was approved by the Senate on June 25.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that the company’s work to upgrade its network with FirstNet’s 700 MHz spectrum will position it to move to 5G network technology via a software upgrade. “To build out this FirstNet capability, this first responder network, we have to go climb every cell tower. Literally, we have to go touch every cell tower over the next couple of years,” explained Stephenson. "As we're touching those cell towers, every single one of them, we have a lot of spectrum in inventory.

The idea for FirstNet was long in gestation, beginning with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but has rapidly come to fruition in the year since AT&T won a contract to build it for the federal government. The idea was a dedicated wireless network exclusively for first responders, enabling them to communicate in emergencies on a secure system built to handle massive amounts of data. The government agency was created after 9/11 to devise the interoperability of first responders, and then to enable video, data and text capabilities in addition to voice.

Internet-connected locks, speakers, thermostats, lights and cameras that have been marketed as the newest conveniences are now also being used as a means for harassment, monitoring, revenge and control.  In more than 30 interviews with The New York Times, domestic abuse victims, their lawyers, shelter workers and emergency responders described how the technology was becoming an alarming new tool.

[Commentary]  As we get deeper into hurricane season, Washington should be doing what it can to keep [the Lifeline program] in place. When people on the island prepare for this year’s storms and amass their 10 days of supplies, they should have the comfort of knowing that the Federal Communications Commission is not undermining the program they use to stay connected. But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, the agency has announced plans to gut the Lifeline program by as much as 70 percent of participants. To justify such a drastic cut, the FCC says it wants to prevent program waste.

[Press release] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the following items are tentatively on the agenda for the July Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 12, 2018:

When it comes to 5G, we need to keep the playbook fresh and forward leaning. So at our July 12 meeting, the Federal Communications Commission will take another step to ensure that America continues to lead the world in mobile innovation. Headlining the agenda at the FCC’s July meeting is a proposal to make more intensive use of mid-band spectrum from 3.7 to 4.2 GHz, commonly called the C-band. Another area in which the FCC has made substantial progress but must not stand still is emergency alerting.

On June 20, 2018, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly wrote to Gov Eddie Calvo (R-Guam) regarding 911 fee diversion. "I am writing to follow-up on my Feb 20, 2018 letter inquiring on your territories' 9-1-1 fee diversion practices....As of today, four months later, my office has not received a response from you or your office...The citizens of Guam rely on the 9-1-1 system to work in their most dire times of need. It is beyond disappointing to learn that your territory has made a habit of diverting these funds for other purposes.

On June 15, 2018, Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly wrote to Gov Gina Raimondo (D-RI) and Rhode Island General Assembly Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello (D-RI-15) to follow-up on the issue of 9-1-1 fee diversion. He wrote, "To put it bluntly, your state is diverting 60 percent of the funds intended and necessary for public safety purposes to your general fund, and no amount of relabeling will resolve this reality...I am writing, again, to implore you to end Rhode Island's fee diversion practices."