Wireless carriers told the FCC in quarterly Enhanced 911 reports ...

of 2003, increasing the total of PSAPs for which it provided Phase 1 to 1,876. It rolled out Phase 2 to 59 more PSAPs in the quarter, boosting the total to 575. Phase 1 capabilities let a PSAP locate a caller by cell site but Phase 2 offers the ability to pinpoint a caller to within 50 m. “Although Sprint has met all current FCC mandates, and has a network capable of supporting Phase 2 deployment nationwide, live Phase 2 deployment efforts continue to face challenges,” it said. “LEC and PSAP readiness issues continue to impact Sprint’s ability to make Phase 2 services available to its customers.” Nextel said it had met the 2nd deadline of its E911 waiver order, which required at least 10% of all new handsets to be activated between Dec. 31, 2002, and Nov. 30, 2003, to be Assisted-GPS capable. Nextel offered 3 new A-GPS capable handsets for a total of 7 models and deployed 49 more Phase 2 PSAPs. “There continue to be literally thousands of PSAPs from whom Nextel has received neither a Phase 1 nor a Phase 2 valid request,” it said. “Nextel’s ability to provide E911 service to its customers is sharply curtailed by the readiness of many PSAPs throughout the country.” Nextel said it continued to provide service for valid E911 requests from PSAPs at a fast pace. “However, myriad issues, including inadequate funding at local, state and federal levels, prevent the vast majority of PSAPs throughout the country from receiving and using a caller’s latitude and longitude information, and given the status quo, most PSAPs likely will not be ready in the near future,” it said. Cingular reported receiving 1,430 PSAP requests for Phase 1 service, of which 94.3% were in progress. Cingular said it received 657 PSAP requests for Phase 2 service on its GSM networks and 511 on its TDMA networks, of which 421 had been deployed. Of the 421, 17% still weren’t ready to accept the Phase 2 data, Cingular said: “Many of these PSAPs were unable to successfully complete end-to-end testing of the Phase 2 solution because of readiness problems.” Verizon Wireless said it rolled out Phase 2 service to 112 more PSAPs in the 4th quarter since its last report. The carrier said it now provided Phase 2 to 1,019 PSAPs. As of Dec. 31, Verizon Wireless said all of the 26 handset models it sold were GPS-capable. In the quarter, Verizon said 78% of all new handsets activated nationwide were capable of transmitting caller location information. It said the St. Louis and Chicago PSAPs hadn’t acquired upgrades needed, including from a LEC, to activate E911 service. In St. Louis, the county PSAP said it still was disputing selective router charges from Southwestern Bell. Southwestern Bell won’t install facilities for Verizon Wireless until it receives confirmation that its charges for the selective router will be paid. Since Jan. 2002, the PSAP has declined to pay such charges, it said. AT&T Wireless said it has met the deadline in its E911 GSM consent decree since the last quarterly report. For example, by Nov. 30, the carrier had to provide Phase 2 service to all of a PSAP’s coverage area for valid requests received by Sept. 30 and for 50% of a PSAP’s coverage area for requests received after Sept. 30, 2002, but before April 30, 2003.