January 9, 2017–The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is seeking comment on a request by the Maine Public Utilities Commission “for assistance in resolving a conflict related to the implementation of text-to-911 via message session relay protocol (MSRP) service,” the bureau said in a public notice released today in PS dockets 11-153 and 10-255.

Specifically, the bureau said, the PUC is seeking clarification regarding the demarcation point for text-to-911 between wireless providers and Maine’s Next Generation 911 (NG911) system.  Maine implemented an interim text-to-911 solution at two of the state’s public safety answering points, relying on TTYs (teletypewriters), and that following statewide deployment of a next-generation 911 system, it received conflicting migration price proposals from text control centers (TCCs).  The PUC told the FCC that “the root cause” of the pricing dispute “appears to be the point of demarcation between carriers and Maine’s Emergency Services Internet Protocol Network (ESInet).”  Whereas Maine believes that “the point of demarcation should be at the ingress designated by the Session Border Controller (SBC) of the State of Maine ESInet,” it told the FCC that the TCCs, “acting on behalf of wireless carriers, argue that the point of demarcation should be the egress side of the SBC used by the TCCs.”

Comments on the PUC’s request for clarification are due Feb. 8, and replies are due March 10. —Lynn Stanton, lynn.stanton@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily