[Ccarc] 9-1-1 funding

[Tom Murray]

		Report Outlines 9-1-1 Funding Crisis

		April 02, 2008
		



 
By Jeff Robertson




The sufficiency of current 9-1-1 funding models is
uncertain despite the heightened public need for advanced 9-1-1
capabilities, according to a report sponsored by the 9-1-1 Industry
Alliance released in March. For the most part, the 9-1-1 network has
been funded using landline phone surcharges. As the public increasingly
moves to mobile and VoIP phones, new funding mechanisms are needed to
pay for equipment and services to answer those 9-1-1 calls. Many
consumers, especially young adults, opt not to even have landline-based
phones and rely on mobile phones as their primary form of
communications.
The "2008 Study on the Health of the U.S. 9-1-1
System" report authored by ColoComm Group consultants Brad Bernthal,
Phil Weiser and Dale Hatfield, who is also a member of the
MissionCritical Communications' editorial advisory board, states that
in some cases, funding is significantly decreasing, while 9-1-1 call
volumes from mobile phones have doubled or tripled.
Prevailing funding approaches are generally
insufficient to facilitate necessary capital upgrades to the current
analog 9-1-1 system, and jurisdictions will find it difficult to plan
and pay for the transition to a next-generation network unless
something changes. This budgeting crisis will need to be resolved
across several jurisdictions in the United States. It's widely accepted
that the legislated surcharge collection, when audited, rarely matches
what should be collected. For example, in one state a shortfall of $4
million wasn't collected annually; this shortfall has been happening
during the past 15 years representing more than $60 million. Had these
funds been properly collected, funding for a next-generation 9-1-1 (NG
9-1-1) system could already be in place.
A
state-legislated and audited surcharge model that is fair across all
new devices should be used. As people disconnect landline phones, a new
device surcharge will be equal to the land-based surcharge, ensuring
that funding will not be impacted and that 9-1-1 centers can plan and
budget into the future.
State leadership in legislating, budgeting,
planning and building a next-generation network is also required. The
"patchwork" of jurisdictions across the country, in some cases,
encourages "hoarding" funds for local needs or causes competition for
funding among jurisdictions even though 9-1-1 emergencies no longer
happen only in a local jurisdiction where funds are collected. It's
necessary to have an empowered, state-legislated agency authorized to
collect, budget and plan for an NG 9-1-1 network that will serve the
public now and in the future.
Funding for 9-1-1 is collected from consumers for
9-1-1 purposes, yet too often the money is diverted to other
general-purpose uses by the government. Each state should assign an
agency to collect 9-1-1 surcharges for all devices that access the
9-1-1 network. Currently, states have varied methods for remitting the
surcharges the public pays into the 9-1-1 fund from county boards,
public utilities, sheriff departments, etc. Each agency has different
priorities for these funds, and in many cases, there is no
accountability for their use.Each state agency
should adopt an audit process to ensure the funds are used solely to
cover what the public is paying for: 9-1-1. If not used for 9-1-1, a
public record should be available to provide an account of why 9-1-1
funds were diverted and how the money was used. A single state agency
is better prepared and funded than a highly fragmented approach to
9-1-1 governance - in some cases, as many as 200 separate entities in a
state - to save and plan for a capital upgrade to the current analog
system. As counties compete for limited funding, the big-picture
planning necessary for major upgrades to a state's entire
infrastructure is often overlooked. In many cases, only densely
populated counties have the latest technologies, a dynamic that fails
to serve the rest of the county's citizens. Often, citizens travel
outside their county boundaries not knowing that 9-1-1 service is
deficient in that jurisdiction.
For more on PSAP funding, see "Broken 9-1-1 Funding" on Page 50 of MissionCritical Communications' May issue.







Jeff Robertson is the executive director of the 9-1-1 Industry Alliance. Visit www.911alliance.org to download a full copy of the report. E-mail comments to editor at RRMediaGroup.com.
	



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