WASHINGTON-House telecommunications subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) will hold a hearing Tuesday on wireless enhanced 911 services in advance of upcoming legislation that would give states revenue from federal property antenna siting fees to upgrade emergency wireless calling systems.
Among the witnesses expected to testify are John K. Sue Hoyt, a nurse and chairperson of the ComCare Alliance; Ricardo Martinez, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; George Heinrichs, president of SCC Communications Corp.; S. Robert Miller, chairman of the National Emergency Number Association’s regulatory committee; Denis Galvin, deputy director of the National Park Service; David Bibb, deputy associate administrator of the General Services Administration; Hal Daub, mayor of Omaha (on behalf of the National League of Cities); and Thomas Wheeler, president of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association.
Tauzin plans to introduce a bill in the next two weeks.
The Louisiana lawmaker could run into trouble, however, if congressional appropriators object to the funding provision that falls within their jurisdiction.
The Tauzin bill, while limited to antenna siting on federal property, will shed light on antenna siting moratoria generally hindering the buildout of personal communications services and the expansion of cellular telephone networks around the country.
The wireless industry has failed to obtain federal pre-emption relief from Congress and the FCC.
As such, the industry has changed its strategy to couch antenna siting in terms of the public-safety benefits of wireless technology.
Also on tap to testify Tuesday is Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), who plans to introduce companion wireless 911 legislation.
“Through the presentations ComCare is going to make and its numerous witnesses, members of Congress will be able to see the need for an end-to-end communications network,” said Rob Cohen, vice president of National Strategies and a lobbyist for ComCare.
