ILECs, VoIP Providers Argue Against E-911 Accuracy Requirements
ILECs and VoIP providers urged the FCC to steer clear of further e-911 location accuracy requirements. Emergency responders’ groups and locator companies said the commission should go even further in its rules. The comments in docket 07-114 came in a commission rulemaking to require nomadic VoIP providers to automatically send out addresses in connection with emergency calls.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The commission has already updated its location accuracy rules effectively and further rulemaking would be “premature and unwarranted,” AT&T said. “The Commission should not adopt new requirements for 4G location accuracy or enhancing location accuracy in challenging environments. Work to address these challenges is ongoing and no potential solution is ripe for general adoption. These issues are better addressed by an E911 Technical Advisory Group.” Instead, the commission should go after “low-hanging fruit” like unauthorized signal boosters, “a present day interference problem for both public safety and commercial wireless communications, routinely blocking and degrading wireless calls, including 911 calls,” the company said.
Verizon, Sprint, the Telecommunications Industry Association, T-Mobile and Qwest seconded AT&T’s advice. Qwest said the commission wrongly concluded that since wireless carriers have to provide addresses, nomadic VoIP also should have to. “But the comparison is not a sound one,” because there’s no adequate technology to help nomadic VoIP providers send the addresses out, Qwest said. Auto-location technology isn’t ripe and the commission “first to articulate specific standards and performance criteria,” Vonage said. “Vonage also is concerned that expanding current E-911 rules may delay or drain the limited resources available to facilitate the long-awaited transition to Next Generation 911."
Commlabs, Intrado and Polaris disagreed. Commlabs plugged its own GPS-based locator. Intrado said the commission’s further rulemaking doesn’t go far enough:. “In order to preserve the integrity of the nation’s 911 system, the Commission should promulgate an indoor location accuracy standard for all wireless calls that equates to the level of accuracy provided today for traditional wireline calls -- the ability to automatically identify ‘which door to kick in’ to render assistance,” it said. Polaris said the commission should look to “hybrid” E-911 system and “gather input from industry members and advisory groups regarding indoor testing and requiring E-911 compliance testing to include an appropriate mix of indoor measurements."
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) said the commission is on the right track. “Now is an opportune time to explore the next steps: providing much better accuracy for all 911 calls, regardless of the method of transmission or nature of the device with which a ’telephone call’ is made,” APCO said. Most consumers aren’t even aware that their phones aren’t transmitting address information, the group said, but the caller “nonetheless expects that an emergency call to 911 will lead to speedy response.” The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC should publish rules providing for periodic review of location accuracy requirements, set uniform requirements for and definition of location accuracy, create “a framework for harmonized positioning requirements” and set up compliance testing requirements.