STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN
RE:  Facilitating the Deployment of Text-to-911 and Other Next Generation 911 Applications, PS 
Docket No. 11-153; Framework for Next Generation 911 Deployment; PS Docket No. 10-255.
American consumers exchange billions of text messages per day and for some, particularly the 
young, it is the primary means of peer-to-peer mobile communications engagement.  Many of 
them assume that when it comes to public safety issues, the system is equipped to handle such an 
exchange.  But, as the record shows, we are not there yet.  So I am pleased to support this Further 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking this afternoon, because promoting 
Text-to-9-1-1 will provide citizens with enhanced access to emergency communications, in 
situations where voice interaction could endanger the caller, or a person with physical challenges 
is unable to speak.  Improving the accessibility of our most advanced technologies is not only the 
right thing to do, it is what Congress has repeatedly told us—most recently with the CVAA—
should be a fundamental goal of communications policy.   
When industry demonstrates a credible willingness to achieve these important policy goals, we 
should give it the flexibility which may be needed to meet those goals in a cost effective manner.  
It is in that spirit that I wish to commend four nationwide wireless carriers -- AT&T, Verizon, 
Sprint, and T-Mobile -- for memorializing a document that commits them to improving the safety 
of mobile wireless consumers.  In short, these carriers have agreed to deploy, by June 30, 2013, a 
mechanism for sending bounce back notifications to subscribers, when text-to-9-1-1 is 
unavailable in their area, telling them they should make a voice phone call to 9-1-1.  They also 
agree to send text to 9-1-1 to from all their wireless consumers to PSAPs, no later than 2014.  
This agreement will accelerate progress to more than 90 percent of the nation’s wireless 
consumers.
These carriers have also made another important commitment by way of consumer education and 
outreach.  The carriers have been making the assertion that SMS is a store-and-forward 
messaging technology that was never designed to provide any time-sensitive, mission-critical 
service.  The vast majority of American consumers are not aware of these limits.  So I was glad to 
see, that these four nationwide companies, as well as APCO and NENA, recognize that and, in 
conjunction with the FCC, will develop an outreach effort to educate consumers about the 
capabilities and limits of text to 9-1-1.  I encourage the parties who signed the voluntary 
commitment, to seek the advice of the accessibility advocates, as they take steps to comply with 
their deployment commitments. 
Despite these voluntary commitments, I am very pleased the Chairman decided to circulate this 
Further Notice, that proposes to adopt the voluntary commitments, as final rules, and intends to 
finalize those rules next year.  I thank the Chairman for agreeing with my recommendation to 
bolster the consumer education and outreach section of the item and emphasize that we must 
engage the accessibility advocates as we move forward in the proceeding.  I was also pleased to 
see a clear discussion of which over- the-top applications could be subject to this proposed text to 
9-1-1 rules.   
Thanks are due to Aaron Garza for his presentation, and I wish to commend David Turetsky, and 
the staff, for carefully examining the difficult implementation issues raised by these proposals.