Former FCC chairs urge Congress to fund next-generation 911

Nine former chairs of the Federal Communications Commission issued a letter to the US House and Senate leaders, urging Congress to make the nationwide transition to next-generation 911 a “top priority.” Experts say the new, internet-based system is a much-needed replacement to the aging, telephone-based emergency communications infrastructure that’s been used across the US for decades. The letter penned by former FCC officials follows similar correspondence sent to Congress in January by a coalition of nine national organizations—including the National Emergency Number Association, the National Association of State 911 Administrators and the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies—that called on federal legislators to pass HR 3565, a bill that would provide state and local governments $14.8 billion to upgrade their 911 systems. The former FCC chairs also suggested several sources of funding that they claim would not impact the federal budget, including federal wireless spectrum auctions and repurposing appropriated but unspent COVID-era funding.