What it means to be part of and support the public safety community.

A letter from GeoComm President/CEO, Thomas Grones

GeoComm's roots are in the public safety community. As a service company to public safety officials and your constituents nationwide, we strongly believe in full government support and funding of public safety efforts. To that end we have outlined five public safety initiatives below.

Encouraging and lobbying for our Congressional representatives to join the Congressional E9-1-1 caucus

This caucus is lead by one of GeoComm's home state Senators; Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). It is also led by Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Representative John Shimkus (R-IL). The caucus currently includes 55 members from both the house and senate from both major parties. The E9-1-1 caucus was formed in 2003 to educate lawmakers, constituents, and communities about the importance of citizen-activated emergency response systems.

The Goals of the E9-1-1 Caucus are to: Promote Enhanced 9-1-1 that automatically provides a call-back number and location of the caller; advance 9-1-1 as the emergency number for use by the public; promote Next Generation 9-1-1 systems; ensure that 9-1-1 systems, networks, and telecommunicators are properly funded; and elevate emergency communications issues within all branches of government at the federal, state and local levels.

Reauthorization of the Enhanced 9-1-1 Act of 2004 set to sunset on 9/30/09.

Full funding of the Enhanced 9-1-1 Act's grant provisions of $250 million per year beginning in Federal FY 2010.

Congress recognized the importance of 9-1-1 in 1999 by making 9-1-1 the universal number for emergency calling in the United States. In 2004, Congress recognized the evolving challenges and needs of the 9-1-1 system by enacting the Enhanced 9-1-1 Act (Pub. Law 108-494). The law created a National 9-1-1 Implementation and Coordination Office (ICO) and authorized up to $250 million per year in matching grants to be made available for states, local governments and tribal organizations to improve their 9-1-1 communications systems. More recently, the New and Emerging Technologies 9-1-1 Improvement Act of 2008 (Pub. Law 110-283), updated the purposes of the grant program to enable states and counties to modernize their 9-1-1 systems by ensuring that federal 9-1-1 grants can be used for the migration to an IP-enabled emergency network.

The landmark Enhanced 9-1-1 Act, establishing the National E9-1-1 Implementation and Coordination Office and the 9-1-1 grant program is set to expire in October, 2009.

Enhanced 9-1-1 Act Reauthorization Request
Congress should reauthorize the Enhanced 9-1-1 Act. In doing so, provisions in the law concerning the responsibilities of the 9-1-1 office and the grant program should be updated to reflect consensus recommendations concerning IP-based Next Generation 9-1-1 and emergency communications. Indeed, Congress has already anticipated the extension of the ICO by requiring the office to develop a national plan for migrating to a national IP-enabled emergency network capable of receiving and responding to all citizen-activated emergency communications and improving information sharing among all emergency response entities. Providing leadership to enable the implementation of the recommendations from the forthcoming plan is precisely why the ICO and the Enhanced 9-1-1 Act grant program must be extended.

In reauthorizing the Enhanced 9-1-1 Act, new purposes for the ICO and the 9-1-1 grant program should be included:

to ensure that technologically advanced 9-1-1 and emergency communications systems are universally available and adequately funded to serve all Americans; and to ensure (1) that all 9-1-1 and emergency response organizations have access to high-speed broadband networks, (2) that these organizations are interconnected through the establishment of, and access to, emergency services IP backbones, and (3) that these organizations have access to innovative services and applications made possible through access to broadband networks, IP backbones and IP application layer software services.

The Need for 9-1-1 Funding
Transitioning 9-1-1 from today's system to a fully IP-based Next Generation 9-1-1 and emergency communications system is a top priority for our nation's emergency response organizations. We must foster the migration from the current analog, voice-centric system, into a 21st century, next generation, IP-based emergency services model that embraces a wide range of voice, video, and data applications. Investing in the future of 9-1-1 must be a priority of the 111th Congress.

Every American and visitor to our country relies on the 9-1-1 system when they are faced with an emergency. Each year nearly 250 million 9-1-1 calls are made.
Nearly 175 counties still do not have E9-1-1 (call location and callback phone number) for landline telephone service.
Nearly 20 percent of the counties in the United States lack the necessary technology to accurately locate wireless 9-1-1 callers.
The 9-1-1 system is increasingly being challenged by the emergence of new technologies, such as voice over IP (VoIP), text messaging, and video communications for which the 9-1-1 system was not designed.
Individuals with hearing/speech disabilities rely on text and video communications that are unable to access the current 9-1-1 system. Funds are needed to enable an IP-based Next Generation 9-1-1 system that can more effectively serve all Americans.
While telephone bills typically contain an E9-1-1 fee for the support of the 9-1-1 system, the revenue generated often does not raise sufficient funds to administer today's 9-1-1 system, let alone the transition to Next Generation 9-1-1, particularly in rural America.

The Appropriation
It is important for Congress to support the request of the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus to provide full funding in the FY 2010 budget ($250 million) to fund the Enhanced 9-1-1 Act 9-1-1 grant program. The Department of Commerce through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Transportation through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are the eligible entities to receive the requested funds to implement the grant program. Thus, funds can be provided in either the Transportation (THUD) or Commerce (CJS) Appropriations bill. To date, a total of $43.5 million has been provided for this grant program and NTIA and NHTSA are in the process of developing grant guidance for the initial allocations.

THIS IS AN AUTHORIZED GRANT PROGRAM, NOT AN EARMARK REQUEST

Support and fund ($5M in 2010) the National E9 -1-1 Implementation and Coordination Office (ICO) (a joint office of the NTIA and the NHTSA).

The Enhanced 9-1-1 Act established a National E9-1-1 Implementation and Coordination Office (ICO), a joint program office headed by the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce in charge of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The Office was established to facilitate coordination and communication between Federal, state, and local emergency communications systems, emergency personnel, public safety organizations, telecommunications carriers, and telecommunications equipment manufacturers and vendors involved in the implementation of E9-1-1 services. More recently, through the passage of the NET 9-1-1 Improvement Act of 2008, the ICO was charged with developing a national plan for migrating to a national IP-enabled emergency network capable of receiving and responding to all citizen-activated emergency communications and improving information sharing among all emergency response entities.

The functions of the ICO are to:

Take actions, in concert with state 9-1-1 coordinators to improve coordination and communication;
Develop, collect, and disseminate information concerning practices, procedures, and technology used in the implementation of E9-1-1 services;
Advise and assist eligible entities for federal E9-1-1 grants in the preparation of implementation plans required to receive such grants;
Receive, review, and recommend the approval or disapproval of applications for grants; and
Oversee the use of funds provided by such grants in fulfilling such implementation plans.

Appropriation Request
Congress provided $1.25 million for the ICO in the FY 2008 budget. Congress should significantly increase funding levels for the ICO in FY 2010 so the ICO can hire adequate staff, fulfill the Congressionally-mandated national migration plan for the migration to a national IP-enabled emergency network, and hold regular meetings and dialogue with all 9-1-1 industry stakeholders to advance 9-1-1 services. A minimum of $5 million should be provided for the ICO in FY 2010.

The imposition of a dedicated 9-1-1 telephone surcharge on all prepaid wireless devices (currently not collected).

A stop to the raiding of 9-1-1 dedicated surcharges by some states for the purpose of balancing state deficits.

We believe strongly these are important legislative initiatives. To the extent possible, GeoComm will take action to forward these initiatives for the betterment of the public safety community and our greater nationwide community.

Sincerely,

Thomas Grones
President/CEO
GeoComm

www.e911institute.org