Legislature(2003 - 2004)
12/16/2003 01:00 PM House EDT
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TOURISM
Anchorage, Alaska
December 16, 2003
1:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Cheryll Heinze, Chair
Representative Lesil McGuire, Vice Chair
Representative Nancy Dahlstrom
Representative Sharon Cissna
Representative Harry Crawford
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Pete Kott
Representative Vic Kohring
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
^ALASKA'S 911 SYSTEM
TAPES
03-15, SIDE(S) A & B
03-16, SIDE(S) A & B
CHAIR CHERYLL HEINZE convened the meeting of the House Special
Committee on Economic Development, International Trade and
Tourism at 1:00 p.m. Present at the call to order were
Representatives Heinze, Dahlstrom, and McGuire. Representatives
Crawford and Cissna arrived as the meeting was in progress.
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION
MARK MEW, Director, Security and Emergency Preparedness,
Anchorage School District; President, Alaska Chapter, National
Emergency Number Association (NENA), spoke on the need to change
Alaska's 911 system and NENA's desire to facilitate discussion
without forcing any specific solution over another.
JIM HARPRING, Chief Information Officer, Department of Military
& Veterans' Affairs; Chair, NENA Legislative Affairs
Subcommittee, stated that the way the future 911 system is
handled and implemented will have a profound effect on Alaska.
ROBERT GRIFFITHS, Director, National Law Enforcement and
Corrections Technology Center, pointed out that Alaska lacks
even a "basic" 911 system, since many rural communities route
all of their emergency calls to a local business or a phone
tree.
MILTON HAKEN, Police Chief, Nenana, stated that 911 calls in his
area were made over unsecured airwaves making it impossible to
get a location on the caller or any information about the
person.
MATT GEPHART, Matanuska Electric Association, noted that the 911
calls in Healy were routed to an 800 number and then forwarded
to the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus without the
Automatic Number Identification (ANI) information being
included.
MR. HARPRING responded that the Healy situation was a direct
result of a decision made due to concerns about a local
utility's being responsible for emergency services.
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM asked if the representatives of NENA
were familiar with the military's interest in Alaska Land Mobile
Radio and whether or not they thought that the technology might
be useful in solving Alaska's 911 problems.
MR. GRIFFITHS responded that they were aware of the technology
and felt that it would be useful but that it wouldn't solve the
problem of how a phone call gets to an emergency answering
point.
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM asked who managed, paid for, and
oversaw the ANI system in Alaska.
The NENA representatives explained the ANI system.
CHAIR HEINZE asked what happened in the Godfrey case [which
showed inadequacies of the 911 system].
MR. GRIFFITHS explained the case and why it happened.
CHAIR HEINZE noted that Alaska's 911 system seemed to be a
patchwork quilt instead of an integrated system.
MR. GRIFFITHS agreed, saying that all involved needed to pull in
the same direction with the same goals to make [the 911 system]
work.
CHAIR HEINZE asked if the 911 upgrades were federally mandated.
MR. GRIFFITHS explained the Federal Communications Commission's
Phase I, II, and III evaluation systems.
MR. GRIFFITHS continued with several ideas for moving Alaska in
the right direction from NENA's eight-point plan. He also
mentioned solution possibilities being considered in the Lower
48.
MR. MEW spoke more on the differences in Phases I, II, and III
as they relates to the amount of information received by the
Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP) as well as surcharges the
upgrades would incur.
JUDY OHMER asked if the technology existed right now that would
allow these problems to be fixed.
The NENA representatives replied that it absolutely did and was
being implemented in several cities in the Lower 48.
CHUCK KOPKEY, Police Chief, Kenai, added that Alaska desperately
needed a statewide coordinator and that the state government
needed to take an active role in the process.
RED BOUCHER, Communications Consultant, H.A. "Red" Boucher &
Associates, as consultant to Chugach Electric Association;
President, Alaska Wireless Technology, noted that the important
thing was finding a coordinating organization and funding it.
He also mentioned Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and
802.11b wireless technology as further potential problems for
the 911 systems.
MR. HARPRING addressed the role the Regulatory Commission of
Alaska (RCA) does and will play in the future of wireless 911.
MARY ANNE PEASE, Vice President, Corporate Communications,
Alaska Communications Systems (ACS), was called to testify. She
mentioned that ACS was fully supportive of enhancing public
safety. She said that ACS is attempting to upgrade their system
from Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) to Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA), which will allow e-911 capability. They
want a waiver from the FCC so that they won't have to support
the cost of running both a TDMA and a CDMA system. That way the
expense won't have to be passed on to their customers. Ms.
Pease asked for a letter of support from the committee and the
legislature to that effect.
CARLOS CADIENTE, Juneau Police Department, commented on the
different needs in rural and urban areas.
The NENA representatives responded to Mr. Cadiente's concerns
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA asked whether the various technologies
involved were all compatible.
The NENA representatives responded that for the most part, they
were.
Mr. BOUCHER testified on the history of Alaska's 911 system and
its future. This included new technologies and local groups
that have been on the forefront of this issue from the
beginning.
DAVE GOGGINS, Chairman, Alaska Telephone Association Engineering
and Planning Committee; Vice President of Operations, TelAlaska,
Incorporated, testified on rural Alaska's 911 system. He
pointed out that it is very bare bones and inefficient. The e-
911 system wouldn't work in most of these rural communities due
to the lack of addresses in many rural areas.
MR. HARPRING joined Mr. Goggins in fielding questions and
expanding on Mr. Goggin's testimony.
REPRESENTATIVE CISSNA commented on the testimony.
MS. DOYLE, Flight Instructor, spoke on the importance of a
reliable, informative e-911 system for Alaska's aviators.
Precise location information is often difficult to determine
after a crash, a 911 system that could ascertain that
information automatically would save lives.
WALT MONEGAN, Police Chief, Anchorage Police Department,
testified on the Anchorage Police Department's stance on
Alaska's 911 system, the RCA's role, the proposed surcharges for
upgrading Alaska's system, and the response time and efficiency
of Anchorage's present system.
BILL DOLITTLE, President, Dolittle and Associates, testified on
new technologies and his work with Anchorage and ACS to get
Anchorage compliant with [the FCC's] Phase II requirements.
REPRESENTATIVE HEINZE asked about the possibility of a
recurrence of the problems exposed by the Godfrey case.
MR. MONAGAN said the system was still in place and explained
why.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
There were no announcements.
COMMITTEE ACTION
The committee took no action.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Economic Development, International Trade
and Tourism meeting was adjourned at an unspecified time.
NOTE: The meeting was recorded and handwritten log notes were
taken. A copy of the tape(s) and log notes may be obtained by
contacting the House Records Office at State Capitol, Room 3,
Juneau, Alaska 99801 (mailing address), (907) 465-2214, and
after adjournment of the second session of the Twenty-Third
Alaska State Legislature this information may be obtained by
contacting the Legislative Reference Library at (907) 465-3808.
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