NG911/ERBN Interconnection

The technical means for the interconnection of Next Generation 911 (NG911) and Emergency Responder Broadband Networks (ERBN) is not well understood, established, or widely deployed. You may have also heard a related term, Public Safety Broadband Network, or PSBN, like the one managed by the FirstNet Authority.

A lot of information exists explaining how the NG911 Emergency Services Internet Protocol (IP) Network (ESInet) and the ERBN will serve public safety and benefit stakeholders, but the industry has yet to determine how to accomplish this objective uniformly, and how public safety applications will use this environment.

What’s Happening Now

To address this issue, the National 911 Program collaborated with a group of public and private sector representatives to articulate the issue of NG911/ERBN connection and establish uniform request for proposal (RFP) language to facilitate consistent interconnection by all members of the 911 and ERBN stakeholder communities.

This diagram illustrates a simplified view of the ultimate NG911/ERBN interconnection.

The group, which concluded its work in May 2023, focused on:

• Encouraging the use of the interconnection standards

• Developing specific contract language around what technical requirements should be included when signing a contract with a broadband network

• Understanding the current status of NG911/ERBN interconnection

• Establishing broad goals to facilitate progress

• Using available resources to encourage actions toward achieving these goals

A variety of public and private entities are also conducting a series of activities to contribute to the ultimate goal of understanding, establishing and widely deploying a uniform interconnection between the ERBN and NG911.