GPS Networking, Inc. (GNI) said it will discuss its GPS re- radiation kits with the GPS Industry Council (GIC) to resolve issues the latter raised in a recent FCC filing. GNI had filed an application with the FCC asking to allow use of the kit indoors and underground (CD May 7 p12). But the GIC told the Commission unlicensed use of the devices could interfere with the GPS signal and said GNI “overstated” their benefits (CD July 28 p7). In its reply, GNI said its goal wasn’t to avoid regulation but to “allow action by the FCC” because “there were few alternatives that seemed to allow the Commission to act” on its request. Besides pending discussions with GIC and others, GNI provided these suggestions to regulate the device: (1) The FCC should create a list of people eligible to buy it, including law enforcement, fire and rescue organizations, certain defense contractors, aviation industry groups with FAA permissions, GPS industry groups, resellers with FCC certification and commercial mobile radio service providers using re-radiation to enhance E- 911. (2) Installed kits should receive a certification stating the kits are properly installed. The certification could be handled via online filings, the company said. (3) Owners of the kits should be accounted in an online database, in addition to the locations where the kits will be used. (4) Any area where the kit is used should be labeled for visitors to the location. GNI said it will likely make more filings to address other concerns by the GIC. Also, while GIC expressed concern about jamming and spoofing GPS, GNI “notes that there are other devices that might pose greater risks as jamming or spoofing mechanisms. It might be appropriate for there to be some regulatory provisions governing those devices as well.”

FCC Chief of Staff Bryan Tramont said the FCC may issue an order on E911 and VoIP before it addresses other VoIP issues. That order could come in advance of a final rule on how CALEA will apply to VoIP and other IP-enabled services, the subject of a rulemaking the FCC approved at its Aug. meeting. Tramont said there’s general agreement that VoIP must accommodate E911, provide access to people with disabilities, and include CALEA and the access charge regime. “We're still working through what the right solution is,” he said. “I don’t have any sense that the carriers themselves are even fighting the E911 obligation.” Tramont said as soon as the FCC works out the best solution it may take on E911 separate from the other issues. “It is quite possible that you may see the 911 issue resolved independent of the rest of the [VoIP] order,” he said. Tramont predicted that the access charge issues will be the most difficult to address.

N.Y. Gov. George Pataki (R) signed an E911 bill requiring that wireless providers inform customers about the limitations of wireless E911 at the point of sale and again with each bill sent. The new law (AB-7448) also requires wireless telephone suppliers to stick labels on the phones and literature in the packaging warning users that E911 automatic locating capabilities may not work for them and they should tell 911 operators where they're located. It also requires the state E911 board to develop a Web site to inform the public about wireless E911 deployment statewide.

Mich. PSC Comr. Laura Chappelle said she doesn’t expect a turf war to break out between state and federal regulators over broadband over power lines (BPL). While there were certain areas such as interference issues that the FCC “is surely going to have clear and better jurisdiction, I can’t see the FCC even wanting to get into pole attachments or affiliate transaction issues,” Chappelle, who heads NARUC’s BPL task force, told us. She said she saw the FCC as a partner: “It’s really only a turf war if you are trying to make the argument only we need to regulate.”

The Okla. Corporation Commission approved SBC tariffs for provision of wireless E911 capabilities to local govts. that base charges on population. SBC serves 107 of the state’s 111 911 emergency calling centers. The final tariffs represented a compromise between BellSouth’s original plan to charge per-call fees, and localities’ insistence on flat-rate fees. Under the tariffs, BellSouth will charge localities a one-time fee of $101.54 and monthly fee of $8.12 per 1,000 people for Phase One wireless location ability that locates callers to the nearest cellphone tower. It will charge an additional one-time fee of $87.31 and extra monthly fee of $2.71 per 1,000 people when it upgrades to Phase 2 location capability that can pinpoint a wireless caller’s exact location. Under state law, localities must get voter approval for monthly phone bill surcharges of up to 50 cents on wireless bills to offset the costs of wireless E911. Five counties have approved the surcharges. With the SBC tariffs approved, the remaining counties expect to put the fees before their voters this fall and next year.

MCI said Tues. it supported an administrative approach to maintain funding of VoIP 911 resources at a level equivalent to those generated by current or evolving funding processes. It said it was “remitting 911 service fees in accordance with local 911 requirements.”

Nextel said in a filing on 911 deployment it has completed the first of a 2-part fix to make its network E911 phase II compatible. Nextel updated the FCC on its recent problems with handsets as part of a series of filings carriers have made at the FCC in recent days on E911 roll out. Nextel said in its filing that Motorola, sole maker of its handsets, notified it July 19 of a software glitch that the previous night it had made a batch of handsets unusable for Phase II, information previously disclosed by the carrier. At that point, Nextel disabled the network component of its Phase II service. Callers’ handsets still provide some information when they call 911 -- caller’s voice, nearest cell site location and call-back number -- but not the more detailed Phase II location information. Nextel said it has begun its fix, completing an upgrade of its network on July 25. Motorola must still fix the software in affected phones. Nextel said it didn’t have a specific timetable for completing this work.

Regulators should allow VoIP providers to implement 911 solutions on a voluntary basis, TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) Senior Vp-Chief Mktg. Officer Timothy Lorello said in an interview. He advocated a “light regulatory touch” be applied to VoIP 911, noting that “capabilities are already there” and “it’s very possible this technology will be provided without regulations.” But he said there needs to be “some monitoring mechanism” in place. Lorello said the industry should take “a network approach” rather than “a database approach” when solving 911 issues as applied to VoIP. He expressed concern that in VoIP, the industry has been taking a “more wireline” -- database -- approach, noting that VoIP “looks a lot more like wireless than wireline.” Lorello said TCS, which had been working on E911 solutions for wireless carriers for several years, came up with a network-based VoIP 911 solution that allows delivery of a 911 call to the right PSAP. He said the product’s first customer, CommPartners, was expected to start its deployment in the 4th quarter. He said customers would benefit from the network-based approach, which would allow networks to supply user location in real time. Under the other -- database -- approach, he said, it would take 24-48 hours to update the database every time a customer moved. But Lorello said both approaches still didn’t solve the problem of identifying the 911 caller’s location, requiring the caller to provide his location in advance. He predicted “in a few years, as we move to Wi-Fi handsets… they will be using technology used today in wireless handsets.” He said there would be a chip installed in VoIP handsets that would use GPS to supply a caller’s location.

A Cal. administrative law judge concluded an SBC proposal for interim batch hot-cut standards is generally workable, but Verizon’s hot-cut proposal had major deficiencies. The proposed order, submitted in a PUC docket (Cases R-95-04-043 & 044), said SBC’s plan to process hot cuts in batches of 50-100 on a regular basis with larger batches negotiated, its 7-day timetable for completing batch migrations, and most its TELRIC-based prices were reasonable and workable. The ALJ said issues such as 911 coordination and certain pricing matters would need resolution in a later proceeding. For Verizon, however, the ALJ said major changes would be needed before its proposed processes would be adequate for CLEC use. The ALJ said Verizon’s proposal for varying hot-cut timetables by batch size and central office, between 6 and 26 days, failed to provide CLECs with predictable and seamless migration. The ALJ also said Verizon’s proposed prices far exceeded those of SBC for similar services, though they supposedly were also based on TELRIC costs.

The N.Y. legislature passed a wireless E-911 bill (AB- 7448) that would require wireless carriers to warn their customers that E-911 automatic location capability may not work with the cellular phone service and that customers should tell 911 operators where they are. The bill sent to Gov. George Pataki (R) would require an E-911 warning label on cellphones and in the prepackaged information included with the phones. Wireless service bills would have to include a reminder about E-911 limitations along with an estimate of when the carrier expects to be fully compliant with E-911 location capability.