By Stephen Smoot
Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County emergency services coordinator, presented the Pendleton County Commission with more detailed information about the adoption of Next Generation 911 in last week’s regular meeting.
Federal Communications commissioner, Geoffrey Starks, stated earlier this year that Next Generation 911 “makes location information available to public safety answering points (PSAPs) more quickly. And ultimately it will support the transmission of text, photos, video, and data – between the caller, the PSAP, and the first responder team. There is no question these are valuable improvements to this vital service, and every American should benefit from them.”
Gillespie noted that this will require replacement of copper trunk lines with fiber optic technology. Fiber optic lines will come with redundancy that will be further backed up by Starlink.
Last July, according to their news release, the Federal Communications Commission “adopted the first nationwide NG911 transition rules that define the responsibilities and set deadlines for originating service providers to implement NG911 capabilities on their networks and deliver 911 calls to NG911 systems.” It added that “this will expedite the nationwide transition to NG911, lead to faster call delivery and improved service reliability, and save lives.”
State and local authorities make the changeover by “replacing legacy 911 technology with Internet Protocol (IP) – based infrastructure that will support new 911 capabilities and improve 911 interoperability, security, and system resilience.”
The cost of implementation and ongoing service will start with a $68,481.75 non-recurring lump sum, monthly payments of $2,775.42 for the service, a $3,060 non-recurring initial fee with Starlink, and $600 per month for their satellite internet service. Up front costs will total $71,541.75 and the first year costs in total will be $112,046.79, which includes all monthly costs.
Starting in the second year, the monthly costs total $3,375.42 per month with year two through five totaling $162,020.16.
This serves as a significant improvement, Gillespie shared, over the initial expected cost of $300,000 “all at once.”
Gillespie stated that he will approach the Region 8 Economic Planning and Development Council, put out requests for proposals, and go through the usual process of obtaining funds to help.
Some help could come from the remainder of the American Rescue Plan Act funds provided to local government entities during the COVID pandemic. The federal government requires that these funds, if not already spent, be allocated for an appropriate purpose by the end of 2024.
Commissioners were advised by Elise White, Pendleton County clerk, that the federal government provides broad latitude for how allocations may be categorized. They voted to reallocate the ARPA funds from their previous status as “broadband” to “communications.”
