State Telecom Activities

摘要

Six states used a total of almost $77 million collected for 911 implementation for other purposes inn2011, the GAO said in a report released Thursday. The six states are Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, NewnYork and Rhode Island. “Using funds in this way is permissible by state law in these states, but it createsnthe risk of undermining the credibility of 911 fees in those states,” GAO said (http://1.usa.gov/17sEwN7). Itnsaid states are making progress on E-911 and that as of March, 98 percent of public safety answering pointsnare capable of receiving Phase I location information and 97 percent have implemented Phase II for at leastnone carrier. While the FCC collects information on the diversion of E-911 funds, its methods need improvement,nGAO said. “Specifically, in its approach, FCC (1) uses only open-ended questions to solicit informationnfrom states, (2) lacks written guidelines for interpreting states’ responses and ensuring that results cannbe reproduced, and (3) does not describe the methodology used to analyze the information in states’ reports,”nGAO said. New York led the six states in the amount of funds collected that didn’t go to 911.n“According to state officials, New York transferred $45 million from the State Wireless Telephone EmergencynAccount to the state’s general fund, and made similar transfers to the general fund in 2009 and 2010,”nthe report said. “According to state officials, the transfer of these funds, authorized by state statute, did notnaffect the ability of the state to reimburse municipalities for approved 911 expenditures or to otherwise supportnits 911 programs.” Georgia collected $13.7 million in 911 fees for prepaid wireless phones but did notnallocate any of that money to pay for 911 improvements.