Small wireless carriers sent a flurry of petitions to the FCC see...

sell automatic location identification (ALI)-capable handsets. MobileTel, which serves rural parishes in La., petitioned for a waiver, telling the FCC it originally planned a network-based Phase 2 solution, but found that “approach is not economically or technically feasible in its service area.” MobileTel is a Tier 3 carrier, which means it has fewer than 500,000 customers, with an analog and TDMA network. To meet E911 requirements and “market demands,” the carrier said it was moving to CDMA technology and would use a handset-based Phase 2 solution. MobileTel said it had begun installing CDMA technology and expected most customers would have transitioned by the end of 2007. The smallest carriers face a Phase 2 timetable that includes ensuring that by Nov. 30, 2004, all new digital handsets activated can transmit ALI data and by Dec. 31, 2005, ensuring 95% of subscribers have such handsets. MobileTel proposed a new schedule, with Sept. 30, 2005, for ensuring at least half of all new CDMA handsets sold are ALI-capable and Dec. 31, 2007, for 95% of CDMA subscribers having such handsets. It said a network-based Phase 2 solution would have cost $1-$1.5 million, which would have been “extraordinarily burdensome for a small rural carrier” and wouldn’t have guaranteed Phase 2 compliance. South Canaan Cellular Communications filed a separate petition outlining similar plans for a CDMA overlay and seeking the same timeline for a handset-based solution. “South Canaan has been unable to find any vendor that provides a handset-based solution for analog systems or that can provide a network-based solution in an economically feasible way,” it said. Because CDMA technology isn’t compatible with its existing network, the carrier said customers who bought CDMA phones before full deployment of the network overlay would have only intermittent digital service. Arctic Slope Telephone Assn. Coop (ASTAC) also sought a Phase 2 waiver, saying it was planning a handset- based technology. “Developers of handset-based solutions did not announce on a timely basis that they were discontinuing development of Phase 2 solutions for the TMDA protocol, including development of a TDMA-based ALI-capable handset,” the carrier said. It plans to overlay its existing network with GSM technology by Sept. 2005. “The fact that GSM handsets are not presently generally available would make it impossible for an operator such as ASTAC to meet the current handset deployment benchmarks even had its network conversion been completed,” it said. ASTAC sought an extended implementation schedule, including a Dec. 31, 2005, deadline for ensuring that all handsets sold and activated were ALI- capable. Public safety groups urged the FCC last month to not grant forbearance to Tier 3 carriers on certain E911 requirements. A coalition of Tier 3 carriers has a petition pending before the agency that asks for forbearance from enforcement of Phase 2 location accuracy requirements until after Dec. 31, 2005. Other carriers petitioning for a waiver included Leaco Rural Telephone Coop and Brazos Cellular Communications.