Large Carriers Partner With Public Safety on 911 Plan, Amid First Responder Pushback
The largest wireless companies teamed with public safety groups on an agreement to improve 911 location accuracy indoors. The goal is for first responders to have access to a “dispatchable location” through the availability of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies, AT&T, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), Sprint and others said in a news release on CTIA's website. The agreement was supported by CTIA and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, but criticized by groups representing state and local emergency bodies and first responders, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
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The plan responds to the FCC request for the wireless and public safety industries to agree on an approach to making automatic location information more accurate, the parties said. The plan proposes to provide a location fix “using heightened location accuracy technologies” for 40 percent of all wireless 911 calls within two years, and for 50 percent of all wireless 911 calls within three years, it said. There also are plans for Voice Over LTE within five years, it said.
These public safety officials "have articulated a clear vision of how to provide first responders the information they need to find us when we call for help, even if we are using a mobile phone indoors," Rosenworcel said in a statement. "By coming together, we move closer to giving our first responders the tools they need to protect us all."
Some first responders and state and local emergency authorities were disappointed with the plan, saying that the collaborative process left out key communities and that the plan delays implementation of a fix proposed by the commission. The International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials and other first responder organizations bemoaned that they weren’t consulted, they said in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. The groups have “serious concerns about the details of the actual roadmap” proposed by CTIA and carriers, they said. It relies on technology solutions for 911 emergencies “that have never been tested in a real-world environment, including the use of in-building Wi-Fi and Bluetooth information and crowdsourcing,” they said. It’s disconcerting “that the burden for providing lifesaving call information is relying on untested technology solutions,” they said.
Find Me 911 urged the FCC to dismiss the plan. The plan is a “blatant attempt by the carriers to delay, distract and dilute” proceedings that would impose real accuracy requirements that include FCC oversight and regulation, it said in a letter to Wheeler. Rather than working with other relevant stakeholders in an inclusive manner, the carriers have “ignored any requests from our organizations to be involved,” it said. Craig Whittington, former president of NENA, was among those who signed the letter.
It’s “a step backwards” from what the FCC proposed, said Jamie Barnett, a Venable attorney who represents Find Me 911. “It will be implemented slower, [and] it depends on Wi-Fi, which the FCC doesn’t have jurisdiction over,” he said in an interview. Find Me 911 is a coalition of emergency responders, 911 dispatchers, and other entities pushing for indoor location accuracy.
The agreement appears to be an attempt to delay or avoid more stringent FCC requirements, said Joseph Benkert, attorney for the Boulder Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority. Service providers then argue that due to the voluntary agreement, “the FCC should refrain from imposing any more stringent requirements,” he emailed. Although accurate location information is important, emergency response is delayed in a much greater number of cases “because 911 calls are mis-routed based on Phase I location information,” he said. Public safety and FCC focus on implementation of Phase II routing, and expediting the determination and transmission of Phase II information, would positively affect many more outcomes, he said.
The commission is reviewing the proposal, an FCC spokeswoman said.