Carriers are moving toward a voluntary solution so...

said the FCC should impose a mandate on all carriers. In December, the FCC approved a further NPRM asking questions about how the commission can best make sure that all wireless subscribers will one day be able to send 911 text messages, amid warnings that widespread ability to do so could be many years way (CD Dec 13 p12). Verizon pointed to continuing progress. “Just last week, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions and the Telecommunications Industry Association released a new technical standard that will provide service providers and PSAPs with a clear and feasible technology path toward text-to-911 implementation,” Verizon said (http://bit.ly/10Q16hU). “The Competitive Carriers Association also announced that most of its members will be able to implement the ‘bounceback’ requirement by the Agreement’s June 30 target. And Verizon Wireless launched text-to-911 service in Frederick, Md., where the Maryland School for the Deaf is located, and is working with PSAPs and other officials on deployments in several other states and localities.” A coalition led by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing said the FCC should impose a mandate. “Text- to -911 is critical for more than just disability access,” the coalition said (http://bit.ly/Zbs7fP). “This Text-to -911 solution would not only provide access for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and other TTY users, but provide a viable alternative for hearing people who are unable to use their voice while calling 911 due to speech disabilities or emergency circumstances where silence is necessary to avoid detection and further harm to their well being.” Earlier comments in general support the use of SMS as an interim solution for carriers to put in place for texting to 911, AT&T said. “While there is some diversity of opinion on the scope of the obligation to provide text-to-911 and on aspects of its implementation, in the main the comments applicable to CMRS providers support using the Carrier-NENA-APCO Agreement as a template for any interim solution,” AT&T said (http://bit.ly/14ejPIL). “NENA is encouraged by the many supportive comments filed in response to the FNPRM,” the National Emergency Number Association said in reply comments(http://bit.ly/10Q5a1B). “In addition to providing a factual record for the Commission’s interim text proceeding, the comments relating to interconnected- and applications-based-text providers clearly demonstrate the additional capabilities (e.g., enhanced location determination) that can come from these now-common services.” In the earlier comment round CTIA warned the FCC that a text-to-911 mandate on carriers may not survive a judicial challenge (CD March 13 p12). “NENA agrees with AT&T that the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA) provides clear authority for the Commission’s proposed Text-to-911 rules,” the group said. “Despite trade-group insistence to the contrary, the CVAA cannot be read so narrowly as to exclude Commission authority over the transition to IP-enabled emergency services like interim Text-to-911."