BILL ANALYSIS
AB 914
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 914 (Reyes)
As Amended June 2, 2003
Majority vote
UTILITIES AND COMMERCE 13-0 REVENUE AND TAXATION 6-0
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|Ayes:|Reyes, Richman, Calderon, |Ayes:|Chavez, Wyland, Harman, |
| |Campbell, Canciamilla, | |Laird, Leno, Simitian |
| |Diaz, | | |
| |Jerome Horton, La Malfa, | | |
| |La Suer, Levine, Maddox, | | |
| |Nunez, Wolk | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 24-0
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|Ayes:|Steinberg, Bates, Berg, | | |
| |Kehoe, Corbett, Daucher, | | |
| |Diaz, Firebaugh, | | |
| |Goldberg, Haynes, Nation, | | |
| |Chan, Nunez, Pacheco, | | |
| |Pavley, Ridley-Thomas, | | |
| |Runner, Samuelian, | | |
| |Simitian, Wiggins, Yee, | | |
| |Laird | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Makes clarifying changes to existing law pertaining to
the 911 system and requires the development of a client server
system to access geo-reference maps. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes clarifying changes to the Warren 911 Emergency Services
Act and the Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Act to reflect
the technological changes in telecommunication systems.
2)Requires the Department of General Services (DGS) to develop a
client server network for the purpose of accessing a
geo-reference mapping system for all the public safety
answering points in the state.
3)Specifies that the National Emergency Number Association
(NENA) standards for recommended formats and protocols for
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data exchange and NENA recommended standards for local
exchange carriers, Automatic Location Identification (ALI)
service providers, and 911 service jurisdictions shall be
adopted by reference and required for all agencies, venders,
and telecommunications service providers having any
connectivity to the telecommunications emergency response
system.
4)Establishes the 911 Advisory Committee to be comprised of
public safety user groups to advise DGS on equipment
procurement, reimbursements, and strategic planning and
development for the 911 system.
5)Specifies that a telecommunications emergency response system
include:
a) Reporting system;
b) Approved incremental costs;
c) A geographically referenced statewide base mapping
system;
d) A regionalized master street address guide; and,
e) An ALI database client server system.
6)Defines a "reporting system" as a telecommunication system
that automatically connects a person who uses another
telecommunications service, including 911 circuits, to an
established public safety answering point through
telecommunications service facilities and is capable of
automatically identifying the caller's number, automatically
locating the caller, holding the incoming call, reconnecting
on the same telephone line, clearing a telephone line, or
automatically call routing, or any combination of these
capabilities.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown costs, but probably at least in the tens
of millions of dollars to reimburse local agencies for all the
upgrades.
COMMENTS : The first California commercial telephone exchange
opened in San Francisco in 1878. The system continued to expand
from business to private line telephones in homes across the
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State. As the only means of reporting an emergency and
requesting a Public Safety response, thousands of emergency
numbers existed throughout California.
Ninety-four years later, in 1972, the Legislature passed the
Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act. This provided a single,
primary three-digit emergency telephone number through which
emergency services could be obtained, regardless of
jurisdictional boundaries. In time, the system was improved to
"Enhanced 911," in which the caller's address would be displayed
to the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). This act also
provided the funding to all agencies for the necessary hardware
to handle these calls, and to the telephone service providers
for building and maintaining the network.
While this system was a tremendous improvement to the public
safety response to an emergency at that time, the legislation
has been virtually unchanged for the past 31 years. No one
could have foreseen the technological advances of the last three
decades. The explosive rise in cellular telephone use,
satellite and radio transmission capabilities were unfathomable
in 1972.
In PSAP today, reports of emergency requests for services are
received from many telecommunications technologies. With
today's cellular, satellite and personal radio communications
devices, requests for emergency services extend to the
wilderness areas and open waters throughout California.
Automatic Crash Notification, (ACN), systems are being installed
in increasing numbers of vehicles each year. To this day, the
public still relies on the single most utilized emergency
telephone number, 911.
But, the perception that a PSAP knows your location when you
request emergency services doesn't match the reality of the
current situation. While the technology in the hands of the
consumer has advanced exponentially, the 911 system has remained
at the 1972 level. The problem is further compounded by the
fact that while the emergency can move rapidly throughout
multiple jurisdictions, the PSAPs have no common communications
capability.
Legislation must recognize the broad spectrum of
telecommunications emergency notification methods currently in
use, in addition to 911. It must also recognize the need for
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all agencies within California to have interoperable
communications available during those emergency responses. The
current Emergency Telecommunications Surcharge must be enhanced
to fund the necessary hardware and network infrastructure for
such a system.
The purpose of this bill: This bill updates the Warren 911
Emergency Services Act and the Emergency Telephone Users
Surcharge Act by clarifying that the existing 911 system, based
on calls being directed to PSAPs by the public switch telephone
network, is part of the telecommunication network and not just a
call termination point. Furthermore, this bill adds that a
client server network be created that allows PSAPs to access
geo-reference maps for the purpose of overlaying it with
location information from wireless carriers to pinpoint 911
calls made from cell phones.
Greater use of cell phones today than in the past: In the
United States today there are more than 90 million wireless
phone users who make more than 115,000 emergency calls a day. A
February 2003 Consumer Report noted that one in three people who
own a cell phone say they bought it mainly for safety reasons.
The report also highlighted that out of 11,500 subscribers
contacted in the fall of 2002, 1,880 said they tried to call 911
using a cell phone and 280 of them had trouble connecting to 911
and 4% or 75 people were not able to get through at all.
Individuals in California had the highest percentage of calls to
911 that never succeeded at 12% and one-third of Consumer
Reports California respondents said they encountered some
difficulty getting through to 911.
Currently, the 911 system is able to locate a caller from a
landline phone by pulling up their vital information. This
information is transmitted to one of 500 + PSAPs, which are
local and state agencies that answer 911 calls, by way of an
Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and Automatic Location
Identification (ALI). The ANI/ALI information is provided over
the regular phone network and in California SBC and Verizon, the
two incumbent local exchange carriers, receive reimbursements by
the state through a surcharge applied to every phone user to
provide the necessary information to PSAPs.
Back in 1972 the state could not have anticipated the rapid
growth in the use of wireless phones as it created the Warren
911 Emergency Services Act and the Emergency Telephone Users
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Surcharge Act, that developed the 911 system used to this day.
Today there are more than 15.8 million cell phone users in
California, nearly half of the state's population.
As cell phone usage and technological improvements in wireless
communication has grown over the last three decades the 911
system has for the most part remained unchanged. Technological
improvements have allowed wireless phones to be more functional
and affordable causing the rapid growth in the number of
subscribers. Currently, after three years of the wireless 911
effort, only Torrance Police Department has the ability to
locate wireless 911 calls because either the receiving entity or
the transmitting entity cannot send ANI/ALI information.
Need for standardized statewide base map: The Federal
Communications Commission requires that wireless carriers must
implement Enhanced-911 (E911) within a specified period of time
following the date of PSAPs request to them that they have the
following mechanisms in place:
1)A mechanism is in place by which PSAP will recover its cots of
the facilities and equipment necessary to receive and utilize
the E911 data elements;
2)PSAP has ordered the equipment necessary to receive and
utilize the E911 data and the equipment will be installed and
capable of receiving and utilizing that data no later than six
months following its request; and,
3)PSAP has mad a timely request to the appropriate local
exchange carrier for the necessary trunking and other
facilities, including any ALI database upgrades, to enable the
E911 data to be transmitted to PSAP.
One of the hurdles for PSAPs in requesting wireless carriers to
implement E911 is that the state has yet to develop a
standardized base map for PSAPs to overlay ALI information with
in order to locate a 911 call from a wireless user.
Analysis Prepared by : Daniel Kim / U. & C. / (916) 319-2083
FN: 0001606