FCC Grants Most Tier III E-911 Waiver Requests
The FCC granted most Tier III wireless carrier petitions to waive its Phase II E911 rules, according to a Commission report to Congress released Fri. The agency granted 33 of 40 waiver requests at least partly, denied 3 and dismissed 4. “In making determinations to grant or deny relief, the Commission has balanced its policy objective of ensuring that E-911 Phase II service is deployed as quickly as possible with the financial and technical challenges faced by certain carriers,” the FCC said. The Tier III Order on the petitions was adopted by the Commission March 22 (CD March 24 p7); release is expected this week.
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The report answered Congress’s Dec. request that the FCC report to the House and Senate Commerce committees on deployment of E-911 Phase II services by Tier III service providers. Congress also asked the Commission to act on Tier III waiver petitions within 100 days.
The Commission said in the past 9 years it had received 184 Tier III requests for waiver relief from its E-911 rules. Of those, it granted 175 requests in whole or in part, and denied or dismissed 9. The FCC said 99 requests for relief addressed in the July 2002 Non- Nationwide Carriers Order remained pending 255 days average; those decided in the Oct. 2003 Order to Stay, 137 days. A request for relief from Phase II accuracy requirements filed by the Tier III Coalition on behalf of 12 service providers was pending 363 days and denied in Nov. 2003. Requests for relief addressed in the recent Tier III Order remained pending 461 days, the report said.
The FCC said it had moved to cut processing time for waiver requests. For example, it: (1) Established an E- 911 Task Force devoted to expeditious review of requests. (2) Created a database to track E-911 specific matters. (3) Trained staff to streamline waiver processing. (4) Hired more managers to handle E-911 matters. (5) Established “speed-of-disposal” objectives for waiver requests. (6) Began meeting with manufacturers so FCC staff could learn of technical, cost and other factors affecting disposition of waiver requests. (7) Encouraged carriers to consult the FCC in advance of filing waiver requests.
The report said of some 390 Tier III licensees, only 10 provide Phase II service to at least one PSAP; 6 use a handset-based and 4 a network-based solution. The report said “no one” technology solution was more effective than another in deploying Phase II E-911 services by Tier III providers. “It is important to recognize that such providers, in general, serve rural markets across the U.S.,” it said: “Each Tier III carrier must assess its own situation in terms of geography, technology, economics and ease of implementation to determine which solution for Phase II E-911 best complies with the Commission’s Phase II accuracy requirements.”