California’s troubled Next Generation 911 upgrade is now embroiled in a lawsuit. A contractor that the state fired, NGA 911, is suing the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) demanding to be reinstated on the project and full payment from the agency.

In the 118-page complaint filed on August 24, NGA 911 accuses Cal OES of abandoning years of work and millions of public dollars invested into the upgrade that aims to bring California’s aging 911 infrastructure into the digital age.

In 2024, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit first exposed major issues at some of the first 911 centers that used the state’s new technology. NGA 911 was the contractor hired to provide service for those regions. Last year, Cal OES decided to take the upgrade in a different direction. Instead of taking a regional approach using four different contractors, Cal OES plans to build a statewide network using one provider with another as backup.

In March 2026, Cal OES published a document saying,  “In addition to the myriad problems with NGA’s network services, the call-processing equipment that public-safety answering points (PSAPs) purchased from NGA proved so problematic that it was unworkable.” That same month, the state terminated NGA from a contract related to the upgrade.

In the lawsuit, NGA accuses Cal OES of falsely blaming NGA for problems with the initial upgrade plan, calling the allegations “plainly untrue” and “contradicted by Cal OES’s own record.” NGA is asking the court to order Cal OES to return to its original plan that used NGA as one of its contractors.

NGA is also suing for $670,000 for payment the company says it’s owed.

NBC Bay Area reached out to NGA 911 and Cal OES for comment on the new lawsuit. NGA responded in an email, “Cal OES failed to demonstrate that dismantling California’s regional NG911 system in favor of a single statewide approach was necessary… NGA is asking the court to ensure the state follows that process before taking further actions that could be costly to reverse and leave Californians paying to rebuild infrastructure they already funded.”

A spokesperson for Cal OES told our team the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation. Cal OES addressed NGA’s allegations earlier this year in a document on its website saying, “NGA now publicly claims that the regional approach to 9-1-1 should be preserved, not because it’s what is best for Californians, but because NGA continues to get paid.”

According to Cal OES’ first quarterly report to lawmakers on its Next Gen 911 project, Californians have paid $545.3 million from July 2019 to June 2026. That’s up from the previous figure of $456 million the agency shared with the Investigative Unit in late 2024.  

There is a new timeline for the project that prioritizes Los Angeles 911 centers, but in the report, Cal OES said the lawsuit may “affect the implementation scope, cost, or schedule.”