The Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and th...
The Assn. of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) opposed petitions for reconsideration filed last month by T-Mobile USA, Nextel and Cingular Wireless on an aspect of Enhanced 911 rules. The carriers, in…
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separate filings, challenged an FCC order that set guidelines for requesting information about the E911 Phase 2 readiness of public safety answering points (PSAPs). They argued that the order didn’t adequately consider the complexities of when a PSAP or wireless operator was “ready” to roll out Phase 2. NENA and APCO said the latest rule they were challenging provided “necessary balance” to the requirement that carriers need offer Phase 2 data only if requested by a PSAP and only if the PSAP was, or would be, ready to receive and use that information. “Rather than accepting the rules and moving on, some carriers appear to have adopted a strategy of challenging every minute detail and requesting clarification to address every conceivable circumstance,” the opposition filing said. “The public safety community has moved past FCC rulemaking disputes and is focusing on making E911 a reality. The carriers should do the same.” The petitions for reconsideration embody a “misguided view” that the Phase 2 deployment responsibilities of carriers and PSAPs should be sequential instead of simultaneous, the groups said. “They would have PSAPs do everything necessary to receive and process Phase 2 data, and only then would carriers be obligated to fulfill their responsibilities,” they said. The underlying premise of the rule is that all stakeholders have to move ahead at the same time toward Phase 2, they said. “If both parties are waiting for the other to move, nothing will happen, at least not within a reasonable time frame,” NENA and APCO said. AT&T Wireless said in separate comments that it supported the challenges by T-Mobile, Cingular and Nextel. AT&T Wireless said it agreed with those petitions that the procedural rules at issue had “added unnecessary complexity to the E911 deployment process and will frustrate, not advance, the Commission’s objectives.” AT&T Wireless said the framework also denied the rights of carriers to seek documentation from PSAPs as to their readiness.