Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Congress Presses Forward With E911 Bill

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 15:21:48 -0400

Congress Presses Forward With E911 Bill

BY MARK ROCKWELL
SEPTEMBER 11, 2003

WASHINGTON -- Congress is quickly moving to have comprehensive E911 implementation
legislation signed by President Bush by the end of the year, and the National
Telecommunications & Information Administration likely will play a prominent role
in those new rules.

At a hearing today on the House version of E911 Phase II implementation
legislation, bill sponsor Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., said he's working to get a
bill on "the President's desk" by the end of the year. Upton called today's
hearing to examine industry and state regulatory perspectives on the bill and
incorporate any changes by next week, then move by the middle of October to
reconcile the bill with a Senate version sponsored by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.
and Sen. Hilary Clinton, D-N.Y.
Upton's bill seeks to provide $100 million in grants to PSAPs in states
aggressively implementing E911 Phase II; deny such funding to states that divert
E911 surcharges generated by consumer wireless telephone bills for other uses; and
designate a federal oversight agency to keep track of state E911 efforts.

The most likely agency, says Upton, for that designation is NTIA. Other agencies
such as the Department of Homeland Defense also are in the running. Upton said he
expects the White House to issue a decision naming NTIA as the agency by next
week.

While the legislation appears to have broad bi-partisan support, there are still
nagging details to work out. Testimony from E911 Phase II equipment vendors, small
wireless carriers, state and federal regulators shows the issue isn't an easy one
to solve.

Even though the bill seeks to penalize states that use E911 surcharges for other
uses by denying grants, that could wind up hindering local public safety access
points instead of helping them implement emergency communications
technology, says Anthony Haynes, executive director of the Tennessee Emergency
Communications Board. He also warned that reliance on E911 money at the state
level to balance the state budget is a powerful force with which to be reckoned.
It
could be hard to break the states' habits of raiding E911 funding pools, he added

http://www.wirelessweek.com/index.asp?layout=newsat2direct&starting=1&pubdate=09/11/03

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