Fairbanks

ACS, Fairbanks borough clash over fee for providing phone numbers to 911 system

FAIRBANKS -- Alaska Communications Systems is "endangering the health and safety" of thousands of Fairbanks residents by failing to provide updated phone numbers for the city's "Enhanced 911" system, the Fairbanks North Star Borough has charged in a lawsuit.

"As a result, borough citizens face an impending disaster -- a 911 call for help from someone in distress who is not able to verbally communicate," the borough charged in its Aug. 25 complaint in state court.

On Tuesday, ACS filed documents to move the case to federal district court because the borough has claimed the company is violating federal law. The company said in a statement that safety of Fairbanks residents is its top priority and it is working toward a solution.

The borough charges that without current numbers and addresses, there is no automated way for dispatchers to know who is calling 911 if the caller has moved or switched carriers since May, the borough said. This does not affect cell phones, only land lines.

GCI, the other principal service provider in Fairbanks, has provided the updated numbers at no charge, the borough said, but ACS wants to collect a fee for the service. The borough has said the company is asking too much.

About 70,000 calls are made each year on the 911 system in Fairbanks, and the borough charged that the more time that passes, the more out-of-date the ACS numbers and addresses in its system become.

The borough said that ACS is providing the current numbers to the Kenai Peninsula Borough at no charge, though it wants to start collecting a fee.

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The Fairbanks information was current as of last May when the updated 911 system began operation, the borough said, but about 3,000 residents may already have inaccurate addresses in the system, a number that is growing by about 1,000 customers per month as people move and change numbers or carriers, the borough said.

"Every one of those situations is a potential health or safety disaster waiting to happen. The problem gets worse every day," the borough lawsuit said.

On July 29, the borough filed an informal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. It could take months for a formal decision, the borough said, so it wants an injunction to get the numbers updated immediately.

ACS has countered by saying that the information the borough wants is available, but not for free and it deserves to be compensated. The borough said ACS wants $175,000 for the first year and $125,000 a year after that for the updated numbers.

In letters filed as part of the case, ACS said it wants to "negotiate commercially reasonable terms" with the borough to keep the numbers updated.

ACS said it provided all the numbers and information the borough needs to update its system and keep it current, but the borough has not processed the data.

"We are disappointed that the borough has apparently not been using this information to keep its systems current," ACS said.

The company said the borough is asking for three services -- "subscriber listing information, database error management and the labor to support these activities."

The company said it is common across the country for phone companies to charge for such services. It offered proposed prices, but "before the parties could reach agreement the borough filed a complaint with the FCC and filed a lawsuit which is now in federal court."

ACS said its "top priority is public safety" and the borough is at fault.

The borough offered to pay 4-6 cents per listing, according to a statement by Roger Hixson, the technical issues director for the National Emergency Number Association.

He said that he knows of no instances elsewhere in the country where a phone company charges a 911 operation for customer listing information. He said the role of ACS "would be and is to upload subscriber list information or other related data and to ensure that the data set is validated."

Borough officials asked that residents do not call 911 to test the service. Instead, they said that anyone with questions or concerns should call the office of Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins at 459-1300.

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

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