The General Business Session concluded the first day of the 88th annual conference, APCO 2022 in Anaheim, California.
The session included the appointment of APCO members to positions on regional boards and to the Commercial Advisory Committee.
APCO President Jason Kern introduced new regional representatives and CAC representatives. Kern also introduced the Executive Committee: First Vice President Angela R. Batey, who will rise to the presidency, Second Vice President Becky Neugent, who will rise to first vice president and Immediate Past President Margie Moulin. Kern will become immediate past president.
Stephen Martini, candidate for Executive Committee second vice president, spoke to assembled members about his history as a public safety telecommunicator who was selected to be part of the staff to train fellow telecommunicators as Nashville-area ECCs consolidated. A former newspaper reporter, Martini joined APCO and served on the editorial advisory committee, then as a group leader and has just completed a two-year stint on the Gulf Coast Region Board of Directors. Martini said his goal as a member of the executive committee would be to leverage the knowledge of the association to assist people in the industry who are implementing NG9-1-1. Martini is running unopposed.
Jeff Cohen, APCO chief counsel and director of government relations, took the stage to deliver an update on regulatory affairs.
Cohen summarized the framework of APCO’s governmental advocacy as:
- Arguing that costs and responsibilities that belong with service providers and vendors should not be shifted to public safety.
- Advocating on behalf of “the operational needs of 9-1-1 professionals.”
- Placing the onus on the FCC and new entrants to protect public safety from interference in the realm of spectrum allocation.
Cohen cited as positive developments the implementation of nationwide location-based routing of 9-1-1 calls by AT&T and of T-Mobile’s implementation of location-based routing in some areas. Location-based routing means transmitting the location of the wireless device to dispatch during a 9-1-1 call instead of the location of a cell tower handling the call. APCO has argued that requiring location-based routing could save thousands of lives a year. “Because some carriers are voluntarily providing location-based routing, we have pushed back on suggestions that 9-1-1 authorities should be responsible for enabling location-based routing or bear some costs,” Cohen said.
Cohen described progress in requiring wireless carriers to upgrade the location accuracy of 9-1-1 calls. Carriers announced compliance with “z-axis” this summer, but APCO is focused on requiring the provision of dispatchable location information, such as addresses, that simplify the tasks of ECCs and telecommunicators.
Cohen also offered spectrum-use updates, including for the 4.9 GHz band, which was intended to be used by public safety for new broadband communications. Cohen described an FCC about face, turning from a policy that would have given states access to the 4.9 GHz band to lease for commercial use. “APCO was successful in convincing the FCC to reverse that rule change, and in September 2021, the FCC proposed an alternative approach that would refocus on public safety use of the band,” he said.
