The Wireless Consumers Alliance asked the FCC to reconsider a let...
The Wireless Consumers Alliance asked the FCC to reconsider a letter ruling last month on 911 call completion methods for Sony/Ericsson multimode wireless handsets. The alliance is pursuing multidistrict litigation in U.S. Dist. Court, Chicago. The suit charges that…
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certain cellphone makers and carriers, including Sony/Ericsson, haven’t met FCC requirements to protect the ability of subscribers to make 911 calls. The court last month referred certain questions on those requirements to the FCC, including what it meant by “call completion” and “delivery of the call to the landline carrier.” The FCC Wireless Bureau issued a letter saying Sony/Ericsson’s call processing method met the FCC’s 911 rules. The alliance argued that a core remaining issue was exactly what the FCC granted when it approved the company’s call-processing method. A 1999 order on Sony/Ericsson’s 911 call completion method for its multimode products granted the company’s request with several stipulations, including a caveat that 911 access attempts be deemed unsuccessful if the handset didn’t receive a channel assignment within 17 sec. The wireless equipment makers and carriers involved in the litigation have argued that the original FCC order required handsets only to assign a voice channel within 17 sec. However, the consumer group contends that the receipt of the call at the base station and its delivery to the landline carrier must be accomplished in that time frame.