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NOTE: As of 7/1/2008 Massachusetts enacted a new 911 statute
which changed many aspects of 911 funding and operations.
OUT-OF-DATE HISTORICAL INFO BELOW (from pre-2006)
The following documents contain information that is helpful to
understand the wireline 911 funding situation in Mass. (and other states
in document D1 below). There are 4 sections, each marked in Red.
KEY DOCUMENTS (also listed in detail section below, but posted here
for easy access)
NEW State Surchages January 2005:
NENA page.
E911 Funding Statute - Chapter 239 of the Acts of 2002 (August 02)
KEY Proposed
SETB/Verizon Budget for E911/Disability Access over 6 Years - $217M
Order Adopting Final Regulations - July 28, 2003 plus
Final Regs
themselves
DTE E911
Hearings Web Page - all docs here
MCSA and
Cambridge Proposals to Include Dispatcher Training and Call
Processing Funding support in addition to Telephone System-Related
Funding support
How Other Larger States
Fund E911
DETAIL SECTION
A. The "new" statute: New Wireline Funding Legislation (enacted August 2002: Chapter
239 of the Acts of 2002) - this statute will help lead to appropriate
funding of 911 through a wireline monthly access charge on the
approximately 5 million wired phones in Mass.
B. Establishing the 911 Budget and the
Surcharge Rate: Summer 2003: DTE Docket 03-63. The Massachusetts
Department of Telecommunications and Energy (formerly the DPU) conducted
a process in the Spring and Summer of 2003 that lead to the setting of a
$0.85/mo E911 surcharge on wired phone bills. Great detail on
this process can be found below. The Order below contains the record of
the proceedings and the arguments of many parties (including the MCSA,
City of Cambridge, SETB, Verizon, AG's Office, etc.). The Final
Regulations set out the actual rules (and makes for much less
interesting reading than the Order).
Order Adopting Final
Regulations - July 28, 2003
Final Regulations
Governing E911 Funding - July 28, 2003 (220 CMR 16.00)
The following materials lead up to the documents below.
Setting the Interim and Regular Surcharge for E911. The DTE
03-63 Web Page contains all the documents on the proceeding
including the order and final rules.
SETB-Verizon Budget is here. MCSA Filed to be an
Intervenor.
B1. (6-16-03) SETB-Verizon Filing on 911 Program Costs:
B1a. Interim
Surcharge Proposal
B1b. Interim
Surcharge Spreadsheet Exhibit 1
B1c. Interim
Surcharge Spreadsheet Exhibit 2
B2. (6-25-03): MCSA
Comments of 03-63: Calling for 16 hours of paid in-service training
each year for all 911 operators and dispatchers in the state.
B3. (7-14-03): DTE
Sets Interim Rate at $0.85/mo beginning Sept 1, 2003. Read all about
it here.
C. Establishing Rules for Funding E911:
Spring 2003: DTE Docket 03-24.
C1. DTE 911
03-24 Funding
Web Page. with all submitted documents on the 911 funding regulations
(03-24). Has comments from Verizon, AT&T Communications, SETB, MCSA,
AG's Office and Cambridge. Has Reply comments from Verizon, AT&T
Communications, AG's Office, and Cambridge.
C2. MCSA Comments on Increasing PSAP Training and Call-Processing
Equipment, presented to the SETB meeting, 5/28/03. (Word/PDF).
C3. Various documents under Docket 03-24
4/18/03 MCSA Comments
Filed with DTE (as PDF)
3/13/03
Order Instituting Rulemaking
3/13/03
Proposed Rules (this is the key DTE document)
3/13/03
Notice of Rulemaking
The Proposed Rules document is a collaborative effort among Verizon,
SETB staff, and the DTE. These rules are the ones that are subject to
comments that must be filed by April 22, 2003. There will be a hearing
on them on April 30, 2003.
NOTE: if you get an "Enter Network Password" box when
trying to view any of the documents below, just click Cancel and the
document should load in your IE browser. Also, depending on your system
setup you may need to have Word, PowerPoint, or Excel installed on your
computer to view these files properly. If you need the document e-mailed
to you, click here for the
MCSA webmaster.
D. Research Documents from MCSA
D1. How States Similar in Population to Massachusetts Fund 911 (Georgia,
North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Washington, and Tennessee). Research
paper prepared by MCSA members. State
911 Program Review (Word
/ PDF)- This very revealing document
shows how much money is raised by monthly access charges - and how that
money is spent on 911 - in the six states most similar in size to
Massachusetts.
KEY!!! D2. 911-related Web sites by
State (Excel document, HTML version here) - partial list of state 911 agency, APCO and
NENA chapters, other sites. Click the Main tab to see the state web
sites.
D3. 911 Program Workshop,
November 2002 (PowerPoint document) - presents many of the issues for
fully funding 911 in Massachusetts.
D4. Second 911
Program Workshop, December 2002 (PowerPoint document) - more
information on developing a robust 911 program in Mass.
D5. 911 Program
Workshop Presentation to SETB Staff (PowerPoint document, HTML
version here) - combines workshop
information into main presentation.
D6. PSAP
Call Processing Support (Word document, HTML version here) - shows how 911 fund monies
are needed to support 911 call processing functions in PSAP's.
D7. How many dispatchers are there in Mass? Find out here
from the telephone survey recently undertaken by MCSA members who called
all 270+ PSAPs and got "pretty good numbers".
D8. Sample Formulas for
PSAP Call Processing Support (Excel document) - shows how a
population-based formula would work to allocate some of 911 fund monies
to support 911 operations directly in PSAPs.
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