FCC Chmn. Martin said Tues. he’s eyeing ’the May time frame’ for ...

June to May a staff deadline for proposed regulations making VoIP compliant with E-911 service (CD April 27 p1). After the hearing, he told reporters he hoped to have the staff proposal ready to offer to other commissioners in time for them to vote on it in May. It’s possible that vote could occur at the May 19 open agenda meeting, although that would require a 3-week lead time under Commission rules, he said. VoIP providers offer some E-911 capability although it often is limited to routing customers’ calls to non- emergency “administrative” lines in call centers. By contrast, wireline callers are routed directly to the emergency response officials where screens show callers’ phone numbers and locations. The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) has been working to solve the problem, which is heightened by VoIP phones’ non-geographic numbers and mobility. Vonage on its own has been seeking access to Bell networks to test a solution based on what wireless carriers use and is on the verge of a major test with Verizon. SBC, which had been resisting Vonage’s test for technical reasons, told the company in an April 18 letter it was willing to try to reach a commercial agreement. SBC said it would “do a technical, economic and regulatory assessment” of Vonage’s proposal for access to the selective routers used for emergency calls. In the letter, SBC Exec. Vp Christopher Rice disagreed with Vonage’s view that its access plan didn’t require any new functions. “It is apparent that while the requested functionality has some similarities to what is available to wireless carriers, it is not the same,” SBC said. SBC also asked Vonage to outline the functions it seeks that can’t be obtained by going through CLECs for access. SBC also warned that Vonage will have to get agreements from all of the public safety entities it accesses before SBC can make an interface available for delivery of the 911 calls.