E911 Bill Would Mandate Access for VoIP Providers
A bill to mandate E911 access for VoIP providers is gaining bipartisan support, an aide to Rep. Gordon (D- Tenn.), who plans to introduce the legislation, said Tues. The bill would go a step further than an FCC order (see separate story), expected to be issued Thurs., that would require VoIP providers to give customers E911 service within 120 days of the order.
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“We're doing a number of things that the FCC can’t do and only Congress can do,” the aide said, explaining the apparent parallel track of the bill and order. Two key provisions in the Gordon bill are mandated access, aimed at ensuring that any VoIP provider can connect to the 911 system, and an indemnification clause to protect providers from customer lawsuits.
The bill is modeled after FCC rules, derived from the 1999 E911 bill, outlining procedures for wireless providers to access E911 services, the aide said. Gordon, a Commerce Committee member, is expected to get support from Reps. Pickering (R-Miss.) and perhaps Shimkus (R- Ill.) Senate offices have also expressed interest, she said.
“There’s a definite need for clarification and it should come from the federal level,” said Greg Rohde, exec. dir.-E911 Institute. “The introduction of legislation would help VoIP providers as well as consumers,” he said. Although the bill hasn’t been introduced, Rohde expects it to gain traction.
When the Senate Commerce Committee considered exempting VoIP services from regulation last year, Sen. Burns (R-Mont.) sponsored an amendment that would have carved out E911 services to insure they could be regulated, Rohde said. “He [Burns] said certain things should be required of VoIP providers,” Rohde said. The Burns amendment passed, although the bill ultimately failed.
The E911 issue needs to be resolved, Rohde said, noting that Canada recently set a rule requiring E911 access for all VoIP providers. “VoIP won’t be effective if you can’t provide E911,” he said. At the same time, the solution won’t be simple. While it’s relatively easy to solve the access problem for VoIP via cable modem service, broadband connections are much more complex. Rohde said federal legislation is an important step toward solving the problem.