On September 8, 2026, the Public Safety Next Generation 9‑1‑1 Coalition submitted a filing to the Federal Communications Commission encouraging it to adopt and enforce interoperability requirements for the deployment of Next Generation 9‑1‑1 (NG911).
Interoperability — the ability of 9-1-1 Authorities to seamlessly receive, process, and share emergency requests across different jurisdictions, technologies, devices and systems — is fundamental to NG9-1-1. It makes the 9-1-1 system more reliable, promotes better situational awareness and supports mutual aid.
The Coalition urged the FCC to require NG9-1-1 service providers to ensure that their services and equipment enable interoperability for voice, text, data and multimedia across the entire call flow. The FCC should act now, while the transition to NG9-1-1 is still in its early stages, so that interoperability can be built into NG9-1-1 networks from the outset rather than creating gaps that need to be remedied later. NG9-1-1 service providers should be required to achieve and certify compliance with an interoperability requirement within two years.
In addition to APCO, the Coalition includes the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI); the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC); the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA); the Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA); the Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association (Metro Fire Chiefs); the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO); the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP); the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA).
