Applying E911 requirements to mobile satellite services (MSS) usi...
Applying E911 requirements to mobile satellite services (MSS) using the Inmarsat system is inappropriate, “the classic equivalent of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole,” Telenor Satellite Services said in reply comments to the FCC. MSS…
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providers don’t meet E911 requirements, especially if the providers are using the Inmarsat system, Telenor said. Inmarsat customers generally use their terminals in maritime or aeronautical environments and the majority of those that use terminals over land are outside the U.S., the firm said. Domestic land mobile customers are a small percentage of total customers, Telenor said, and they generally use the service “where not even a cellular customer would have expectations of 911 service.” E911 service isn’t technically feasible with Inmarsat because even up-to-date terminals have the capability of pinpointing callers up to only a few thousand square miles, Telenor said. It said compliance would be a “huge expense” for a relatively small customer base and very few emergency calls, making the application of E911 requirements to Inmarsat MSS operators unjustifiable. Telenor said the Inmarsat system did have an emergency communications service, the Global Maritime Distress & Safety System, “a necessary and appropriate tool in the environment in which Inmarsat terminals are used.”