The FCC Public Safety Bureau said on Tuesday its 911 reliability certification system is open for filing annual reliability certifications. The certificates are due Oct. 15. FCC rules require 911 service providers take reasonable measures to provide reliable service with respect to 911 circuit diversity, central office backup power and diverse network monitoring (see 2308220047).

The FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee will meet Sept. 24, starting at 1 p.m., at FCC headquarters, a notice in Tuesday’s Daily Digest said. The main topic is a report on how AI “can help protect vulnerable consumer populations from unwanted and illegal calls, along with other consumer protection issues,” the FCC said.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Benton Institute for Broadband & Society's motion to hold briefings in abeyance for two cases about pending petitions for reconsideration of the FCC's net neutrality rules (see 2408080004). The court said in a Monday order (dockets 24-3504 and 24-3507) that a new briefing schedule for the two cases will be issued "when this outstanding matter has been resolved." No parties opposed the motion.

The government should classify public safety telecommunicators (PSTs) and dispatchers as in a protective service occupation, “the same as police officers and other public safety professionals,” and avoid putting PSTs in the same occupational classification as secretaries and office clerks, the National Emergency Number Association said in comments filed Monday with the Office of Management and Budget. NENA said the job of dispatchers has changed markedly in the past 50 years. “Unlike commercial dispatchers, PSTs have constant direct contact with callers experiencing stressful and even traumatic events,” the group said in docket BLS-2024-001. “It is not uncommon for PSTs to hear an officer’s screams ... to hear the shot when a caller commits suicide, or to calm a frantic mother while coaching her to stop the massive bleeding of an injured child,” NENA said: “These frequent traumatic contacts require a different skill set, a different mindset, and a fundamentally different stress management regime than that required to dispatch commercial transportation vehicles.”

The FCC Precision Ag Task Force will meet virtually Sept. 18 at 3 p.m. EDT, a Federal Register notice said Monday. The group will hear from working group leadership and discuss progress toward their recommendations to the commission.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling against the FCC's Universal Service Fund contribution mechanism "should spur reform in Congress," Free State Foundation Director-Policy Studies Seth Cooper blogged Friday (see 2407300053). Congress "should act promptly to make the USF program fiscally sustainable and constitutionally sound" through direct appropriations, Cooper wrote, adding that broadband should be "intelligibly" defined as a service eligible for support. Cooper suggested requiring that "major online companies" contribute "under principles that limit subsidy amounts." There's "widespread agreement that universal service should support broadband access," Cooper said: "Congress should replace the amorphous definition of universal service as an evolving level of services that are consistent with the public interest." Should direct appropriations not be feasible, Cooper suggested amending Communications Act Section 254 to include Big Tech companies that "benefit immensely" from universal service.

OMB approved for three years collection of information associated with the FCC's revised rules for numbering authorization applications, a notice in Thursday's Federal Register said. Commissioners approved the modified rules in September for interconnected VoIP providers seeking direct numbering access (see 2309210055).

Rather than wait for congressional action on georouting of 988 calls, the FCC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration should "take immediate, decisive action," mental health organizations said in a docket 18-336 filing Thursday. The advocates said that while the agencies have encouraged wireless carriers and industry associations to identify a 988 georouting solution, "it is simply not enough -- especially when we know there are existing solutions at the ready today." Signers of the letter include the American Psychiatric Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and American Mental Health Counselors Association. The FCC 5-0 adopted a 988 georouting NPRM in April (see 2404250054).

Tropical Storm Debby left .5% of Florida and .1% of South Carolina cellsites down, an improvement from .9% and .4%, respectively, on Tuesday, the FCC said in Wednesday’s disaster information reporting system report (see 2408060053). 17,344 cable and wireline subscribers lack service, down from 22,422 Tuesday. No TV stations were reported down, but one FM station remains down in Florida, along with another FM station redirected. Tuesday’s report listed one TV station down.

NTIA released its second dashboard on broadband deployment and funding data Wednesday (see 2407300025). The new tool includes spending data on 70 programs from 12 agencies at the state and federal level. The funding is broken down by appropriated, obligated and outlayed support, a news release said. The agency also released a report analyzing the $11.4 billion in federal broadband spending during FY 2022.