National 911 operator could disrupt regional relationships: PSAP

Forming a national consortium for the development of next-generation 911 (NG911) services would disrupt relationships formed under the current ILEC model, a British Columbia public-safety answer point (PSAP) argued on the second day of the CRTC’s week-long hearing on NG911. The largest 911 PSAP — a service that provides emergency and non-emergency call-taking and dispatch services — in the province took a different position than others who argued for a national consortium to handle the transition to next-generation 911, which will allow 911 call-takers to receive communication in text, picture and video messages. The current incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) model sees telco incumbents, such as BCE Inc., operate 911 core networks. “One of the reasons we advocate continuation of the ILEC model is because we have a very close working relationship, that’s down to individual, personal relationships, as well as the role that ILEC provides in terms of the position it has in the community and how invested it is in the community,” Michael Webb, vice-president of technology services at E-Comm 9-1-1 said, addressing a question from CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais. Webb said his group is concerned about resourcing and funding if there is a move to a national operator, and is worried that type of provider would not understand the particular needs of the province. However, while Webb said there would be a risk of interruption of mission-critical services during the transition — such as dealing with “new vendors” — he said that getting over those humps is not “insurmountable.” Also Tuesday, parties present were asked whether they would support the development of an NG911 app, which could theoretically allow a user to enter medical information to be transmitted to emergency responders. Though the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said it agrees with the concept of an app, representatives also said it wouldn’t be an app that would automatically “connect to a local hospital the second it’s used;” rather, the app would allow the user to consent to certain information before it is shared. Webb agreed to the development of such an app, but said it would need to be “harmonized and consistent nationally.” Also chiming in on the app question was Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp., whose representatives said the biggest concerns with such an undertaking are that it work on all common devices, such as Apple Inc.’s iPhone as well as all networks, including WiFi and LTE.

National 911 operator could disrupt regional relationships: PSAP

Brief | January 17, 2017

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National 911 operator could disrupt regional relationships: PSAP

Brief | January 17, 2017

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