MMA letter to Telecommunications and Cable Secretary supporting Enhanced 911 surcharge increase

Sara Clark, Secretary
Department of Telecommunications and Cable
1000 Washington St., Suite 820
Boston, MA 02118

RE: DTC 15-2, Petition of the State 911 Department to Adjust the Enhanced 911 Surcharge

Dear Secretary Clark,

On behalf of the cities and towns of the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Municipal Association appreciates the opportunity to comment on the State 911 Department’s petition to adjust the Enhanced 911 Surcharge for each subscriber or end user whose communication services are capable of accessing and utilizing the enhanced 911 system. In order to protect and enhance the public safety operations that serve every resident and visitor in every community, we urge you to grant this petition.

The State 911 Department’s petition, if granted, would increase the monthly telephone customer 911 surcharge to $1.25 from the current rate of $.75. This increase in revenue is necessary in order to pay for the next generation of technology that will allow our first responders, working with the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) call centers that are located within police departments throughout the state, to effectively meet community needs in emergency situations.

The revenue generated by the increased surcharge would directly pay for enhanced technology within the PSAPs, technology that includes an integrated geographic information system to decrease response times to emergency calls and create a capability to transmit video imagery, better preparing first responders for what they will encounter at the scene. The enhanced technology will also enable the hearing- and speech-impaired to use text messaging to contact 911 operators.

Importantly, we also face a deadline for improving the technology currently used by PSAPs, which was originally deployed in 2005. After 2016, the service provider will not be able to support these systems. In short, we must upgrade our technology now, otherwise we will imperil the quality of our emergency response services.

We strongly support this important petition to increase the monthly surcharge. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to have your office contact Catherine Rollins of the MMA staff at (617) 426-7272 or crollins@mma.org at any time. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey C. Beckwith
MMA Executive Director & CEO