CINGULAR SUSPENDS SOME E-911 GEAR SHIPMENTS, QUESTIONS REMAIN

In filing Tues. that supplemented its quarterly E911 implementation report, Cingular told FCC it had met proposed deadline in its pending petition for reconsideration for making one model of E-OTD handset available before Sept. 1. “Given the continued uncertainties regarding the ability of E-OTD to satisfy the Commission’s October 1, 2003, deadline for 50m/150m accuracy, however, Cingular has suspended shipments of E-OTD infrastructure equipment beyond what is currently deployed,” company said. (FCC has required that new E-OTD handsets activated on or after Oct. 1, 2003, meet accuracy requirement of 50 meters for 67% of calls and 150 meters for 95% of calls). Carrier said it continued to work with vendors to test E-OTD handsets and infrastructure and to improve accuracy associated with that solution for E911 Phase 2. “At the same time, Cingular continues to evaluate alternative technologies in the event E-OTD is unable to live up to the accuracy standards set forth in the Commission’s rules,” filing said. Cingular plans to conduct field trial of network-based GSM solution by TruePosition starting in midmonth and conclude by Oct. 31. Cingular has used TruePosition system for existing TDMA part of its network. Like AT&T Wireless, Cingular uses TDMA technology but is moving toward GSM overlay, meaning that E911 solutions have had to account for both technologies.

GSM carrier T-Mobile, in E911 Phase 2 implementation report submitted to FCC this week, said it had installed Phase 2 network software solution in its switches nationwide, meeting July 31 deadline it proposed in request to modify its E911 waiver. Also in line with its request to modify parts of its waiver, T-Mobile said it approved its first E-OTD handset for commercial distribution last month. It said it expected to approve at least 3 more handset models in next 6 months to meet its proposed benchmark of having 50% of new handset activations after Feb. 28, 2003, be for E-OTD capable handsets. Performance in Ericsson equipment testing in Hayward, Cal., indicated that equipment was meeting FCC requirement for Motorola and Nokia handsets. T-Mobile said performance issues still existed in Nokia’s test program in Portland and in Ericsson’s implementation in R.I.

“Because of delays in the final development of E-OTD solutions across all its infrastructures and because of continued delays in LEC ALI database upgrades, among other factors, T-Mobile no longer anticipates that it will complete deployment by December 31, 2002, for all PSAPs [public service answering points] that had made valid Phase 2 requests on or before June 30, 2002,” T-Mobile said. T- Mobile told FCC it was examining time needed to complete first office applications, which represent round of live testing before rollout, and projected completion of LEC database upgrades. It said it expected to file more changes in its proposed request to amend parts of its E911 waiver. In markets that will use Nokia E-OTD equipment, T-Mobile said it was working with Cingular and AT&T Wireless to accelerate final testing and deployment. Once E-OTD final tests are completed, T-Mobile said, it will roll out technology as PSAP requests come in. Even after nationwide deployment starts, T-Mobile cautioned there still could be more localized challenges because deployment required putting small 7-inch 2nd antenna on towers to capture incoming positioning signals. In some cases, adding those antennas required landlord or zoning approval, T-Mobile said. It said Salt Lake City had turned down zoning authorization for T-mobile E-OTD implementation. “T-Mobile has encountered other instances that suggest the zoning/permitting process could pose delays for E-OTD rollout.”

Meanwhile, E-OTD developer Cambridge Positioning Systems touted test results T-Mobile filed with FCC, saying they showed Nortel equipment met FCC requirements for achieving location accuracy within 100 meters 67% of time and 300 meters 95% of time. Cambridge said filing contained most detailed results to date for any U.S. location technology trial. Cingular/Ericsson tests showed accuracy of 90 meters 67% of time and 243 meters 95% of time, Cambridge said.

T-Mobile report also detailed joint testing results of industry group that has been sharing technical information about E-OTD. Group includes Cambridge, Ericsson, Nokia, Nortel, Siemens. Second group, EOTD Handset Task Force, consists of GSM handset suppliers that have agreed to exchange test results and “share best practices.” That group includes Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Siemens, Sony Ericsson. Group in joint statement issued recently said members didn’t sign nondisclosure agreements, showing cooperation level that was “unprecedented within the handset community.” Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials (APSCO) and National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) raised concerns in filing at FCC last month on E911 implementation, including progress of carriers planning to use E-OTD. Public safety groups cited “major E-OTD test failures,” which they said raised “further questions” on implementation progress of AT&T Wireless. Cingular, VoiceStream. APSCO and NENA called on FCC to act on pending petition for reconsideration filed by public safety groups and to require VoiceStream, now T- Mobile, to consider alternative technologies as possible replacements for E-OTD.