Public Safety Groups Want Probe of Old Cellphones Used to Call 911
Public safety groups asked the FCC to examine the responsibilities carriers and public safety answering points have regarding 911 calls from old phones no longer part of a valid service plan. PSAP officials complain they're inundated with prank calls made using old phones that can’t be traced since carriers still allow 911 calls from the phones. Tennessee officials say PSAPs there had to deal with more than 10,000 of the calls in a single three-month period.
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Public safety officials in Washington this week for the National Emergency Number Association’s 911 Goes to Washington event plans a series of meetings at the FCC to make their case that 911 calls from so called uninitialized devices are a major issue. NENA, the National Association of State 911 Administrators, APCO and various state groups have filed a petition at the FCC asking the agency to launch a notice of inquiry.
“PSAPs report that carriers have expressed concern with both their technical ability to block the calls and the liability associated with blocking all calls from a particular device in light of the Commission’s 911 call- forwarding mandate,” public safety groups said in the petition. “Accordingly, the 911 Entities seek clarification and guidance from the Commission concerning the legal and technical aspects of NSI device call forwarding and call blocking.”
“Historically, 911 centers are receiving a lot of calls and unfortunately a lot of these calls are coming from uninitialized devices,” Jason Barbour, NENA president told us Tuesday: “When you have an uninitialized device you cannot return that call… You can’t call them back to see if anything is wrong.” Prank callers, often teenagers, know the calls can’t be traced and as a result make the calls using old phones, he said.