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FCC Adopts Final Rules to Secure Reliability and Interoperability of NG911 Networks

The Federal Communications Commission has finalized a new 911 reliability framework designed to address outages in transitional and end-state Next Generation 911 networks, replacing rules that date to 2013.

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What the Order does

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Second Report and Order on June 25, 2026, and released it on June 26, 2026, establishing updated rules to ensure that emerging Next Generation 911 (NG911) networks are reliable and interoperable. The final rule takes effect August 10, 2026, and amends regulations under 47 CFR Parts 0 and 9.

NG911 is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based system that enables emergency communications centers to receive, process, and analyze all types of 911 requests for emergency assistance, ensures interoperability, and meets certain other requirements, as defined in 47 CFR 9.28. According to the Commission, 911 Authorities are rapidly replacing legacy 911 systems and migrating to the NG911 ecosystem to gain access to advanced capabilities, enhanced resilience, greater interoperability, and improved accessibility.

Background and rationale

The Commission explains that as the nation has undertaken the transition to NG911 over the last decade, it has seen a corresponding increase in major, multi-state 911 service outages that have disrupted access to life-saving emergency services for millions of Americans. The agency states that too often these outages have occurred in parts of transitional NG911 systems that fall outside the scope of the 911 reliability framework adopted in 2013, which does not address the increasingly complex array of call scenarios in the IP call origination context. The Commission states its belief that in many of these instances, operators could have prevented or mitigated outages by implementing reliability measures appropriate for IP-based systems.

The Order explains that it modernizes the Commission's 911 reliability framework to reflect America's ongoing upgrade to modern high-speed telecommunications infrastructure, leveraging the strengths of modern telecommunications networks, including high-capacity fiber, dynamic routing, automated monitoring, and real-time failover capabilities that do not exist in legacy systems.

Key mechanisms

The Order makes three principal changes to the regulatory framework:

Covered 911 service providers. The Commission updates its definition of covered 911 service providers (CSPs) to identify categories of providers whose operations are essential to NG911 call delivery and whose failure could cause significant outages. The updated definition includes operators of Emergency Services IP networks (ESInets), Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) providers, and providers of real-time location services, major IP transport, IP 911 traffic aggregation, and essential gateways for converting legacy and IP traffic.

Reliability standards. The Commission modernizes and streamlines the 911 reliability benchmarks applicable to CSPs to reflect widely recognized best practices appropriate to IP-based 911 networks, incorporating well-established IP best practices.

Interoperability reporting and legacy rule elimination. Certain entities are required to report on their support for NG911 interoperability. The Order also eliminates what the Commission characterizes as unnecessary and burdensome legacy rules in order to increase flexibility and encourage technical innovation to make NG911 services reliable, interoperable, and accessible to all.

The Commission has determined, and the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, concurs, that this rule is non-major under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The Commission will send a copy of the Order to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).

What to watch

The final rule takes effect August 10, 2026. The full text of the Order is available through the FCC at the docket for PS Docket Nos. 21-479 and 13-75, FCC 26-39.

Related

Sources

14 cited

Every hard fact above is grounded in and cited to a primary source record.

  1. The FCC adopted a Second Report and Order on June 25, 2026, and released it on June 26, 2026.

    federalregister.gov

  2. The final rule takes effect August 10, 2026.

    federalregister.gov

  3. The rule amends 47 CFR Parts 0 and 9.

    federalregister.gov

  4. NG911 is an Internet Protocol (IP)-based system that enables emergency communications centers to receive, process, and analyze all types of 911 requests for emergency assistance, as defined in 47 CFR 9.28.

    federalregister.gov

  5. The Commission states that as the nation has undertaken the transition to NG911 over the last decade, it has seen a corresponding increase in major, multi-state 911 service outages that have disrupted access to life-saving emergency services for millions of Americans.

    federalregister.gov

  6. The Commission states that these outages have too often occurred in parts of transitional NG911 systems outside the scope of the 911 reliability framework adopted in 2013.

    federalregister.gov

  7. The Commission states its belief that in many of these instances, operators could have prevented or mitigated outages by implementing reliability measures appropriate for IP-based systems.

    federalregister.gov

  8. The Order leverages the strengths of modern telecommunications networks, including high-capacity fiber, dynamic routing, automated monitoring, and real-time failover capabilities that do not exist in legacy systems.

    federalregister.gov

  9. The updated definition of covered 911 service providers (CSPs) includes operators of Emergency Services IP networks (ESInets), Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) providers, and providers of real-time location services, major IP transport, IP 911 traffic aggregation, and essential gateways for converting legacy and IP traffic.

    federalregister.gov

  10. Certain entities are required to report on their support for NG911 interoperability.

    federalregister.gov

  11. The Order eliminates legacy rules the Commission characterizes as unnecessary and burdensome.

    federalregister.gov

  12. The Commission has determined, and the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, concurs, that this rule is non-major under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

    federalregister.gov

  13. The Commission will send a copy of the Order to Congress and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).

    federalregister.gov

  14. The Order was issued in PS Docket Nos. 21-479 and 13-75, FCC 26-39.

    federalregister.gov

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