NENA Testifies in House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology FirstNet Hearing

On March 14, NENA Government Affairs Director Trey Forgety testified in front of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Communications and Technology in the Oversight of FirstNet and Emergency Communications hearing. Click here to read his testimony in full. Testimony summary points are below.

 

1. NG9-1-1 service is the critical consumer-to-PSAP counterpart to the PSAP-to-field communications capability offered by FirstNet.

 

2. Congress should ensure that FirstNet leverages the extensive technical and operational development work already completed for NG9-1-1.

 

3. Congress should allow all 9-1-1 to compete for grant funding by including 9-1-1 in the definition of "public safety" for all federal public safety grant programs.

 

4. Consistent with the FCC’s report, Congress should direct the National Implementation Coordination Office to deploy a PSAP Credentialing Agency and a national Forest Guide to support NG9-1-1 system security and call routing.

 

5. Congress should direct the Department of Homeland Security to deploy a national 9-1-1 data collection and analytics capability to provide real-time insight into natural and man-made disasters and aid the detection of cyber attacks on Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs).