Alexandria, VA – Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced its tentative agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Friday, August 8, 2014. Among the items to be considered is a proceeding entitled “Enabling Nationwide Text-to-9-1-1 Service for the 21st Century.”

According to the FCC, this item will consist of a Second Report and Order and Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that “establishes deadlines for covered text providers to be capable of delivering texts to appropriate 9-1-1 public safety answering points, and seeks comment on potential improvements to current text-to-9-1-1 technology, such as through better location information.”

Following today’s announcement, APCO President Gigi Smith said, “We applaud the Commission for moving forward on this important item and look forward to reviewing the order and further notice after it is adopted.”

APCO International® (www.apcointl.org)

APCO International is the world’s oldest and largest organization of public safety communications professionals and supports the largest U.S. membership base of any public safety association. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide – and the welfare of the general public as a whole.