FCC Order Would Raise Bar for Locating Wireless E-911 Calls

Chmn. Martin is teeing up an order and rulemaking that would require wireless carriers to get better at locating callers in emergencies, reviving FCC proceedings stalled for years. Martin recently met with public safety officials to tell them he would proceed with proposals carriers generally oppose. A study coming this week from the Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials takes a close look, based on field tests, at carrier adherence to current standards.

The item involves 2 issues. First, Martin is expected to propose to require that the precision with which carriers locate emergency calls be gauged at the individual public safety answering point (PSAP) level, as APCO and other safety groups want, rather than via statewide averaging, as carriers want. A statewide standard would be easier for carriers.

Two years ago, a Network Reliability & Interoperability Council (NRIC) subcommittee recommended statewide testing over APCO’s dissent. “Given the current state of location technology, it is understood that the FCC accuracy rules will not be met at every PSAP,” the subcommittee said.

Second, Martin will propose a rulemaking on whether to make carriers more accurately locate callers. Carriers that use a network method to find callers -- triangulating among cell towers -- must be able to locate 95% of calls within 300 m and 67% within 100 m. Carriers with handset-based systems for E-911, relying on satellite identification of a GPS chip in the phone, now must be able to locate 95% of callers within 150 m and 67% within 50 m. Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and other CDMA carriers use handset-based technology for E-911. AT&T and T-Mobile, the major GSM carriers, use a network-based method.

The NPRM will examine possible hybrid technologies using both methods, an FCC spokesman said. “It will seek comment on developments that employ both methods and could be common across providers,” the spokesman said: “It will look at whether there are technological developments that could make the system more comprehensive and more effective.”

CTIA and wireless carriers are expected to fight any change in the standards, sources said. “We all need to recognize this isn’t the wired system,” a CTIA spokesman said Fri.: “It will never be perfect, though it is a fantastic safety tool.”

“This is an important issue for PSAPs across the country, and its something we've been looking at,” Robert Gurss, APCO dir. of legal and govt. affairs, told us: “We have a study we're hoping to release in the next couple of days regarding accuracy in various settings based on field studies we have done.”

Martin’s support for PSAP vs. statewide averaging isn’t surprising: In May 2005, when the issue was being contested in NRIC, a Martin aide told an FCBA lunch that Martin had “some sympathy” for APCO’s arguments.