The FCC granted a petition for reconsideration filed by the Allia...

phones use 123-456- 7890 as the phone number transmitted to a public safety answering point (PSAP) receiving a call to address problems created by a lack of a callback capability when 911 calls were dialed from such devices. On reconsideration, the FCC said that in light of information submitted by ATIS’s Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ESIF), which developed a voluntary technical standard in that area, it removed the requirement to use the number starting with “123.” The ESIF-developed standard “provides a more far- reaching and technically superior solution” to the original April 2002 order, the Commission said. The new requirements to program carrier-donated non-service-initialized phones and new 911-only handsets are for a sequential number beginning with 911 plus 7 digits selected in a manner similar to how certain network software generates a number. The previous order had required 911-only wireless handset manufacturers to program each device with the same code starting Oct. 1 but ESIF had sought a stay based on a technical standard developed by the Telecom Industry Assn. and ATIS. That solution involves use of a wireless handset’s electronic serial number or international mobile station equipment ID to create a “surrogate number” for emergency callback purposes. The point of the system is to prevent misuse of the 911 system as a result of repeat harassment calls made on non- initialized phones and to sort out legitimate callers dialing 911.