CCIA Says E911 Road Map Smart to Leverage Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
The Computer & Communications Industry Association endorsed the industry road map for ensuring indoor location accuracy for wireless calls to 911, released last month by the four major carriers, APCO and the National Emergency Number Association, in reply comments filed at the FCC. But as in the earlier comment round (see 1411180051), many first responders expressed concern about the plan. Replies are due Wednesday at the FCC in docket 07-114. The FCC proposed rules in a February NPRM (see 1402210038).
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CCIA said the plan “leverages” existing Wi-Fi connections and Bluetooth beacons “immediately to start delivering dispatchable addresses to first responders” while new technologies are developed. The road map is “a great example of private sector collaboration in co-operation and partnership with the FCC,” CCIA said.
The American Ambulance Association said the road map “is significantly inferior” to the FCC’s proposed rules. The group said the FCC can add it to the list of national public safety organizations opposing the road map plan. “Our members know firsthand the agony and frustration caused when people in need of help cannot be located,” the group said. “The technology to correct this growing crisis is available. The FCC proposal is the only plan that will advance public safety and save lives.” Numerous other smaller entities and individuals -- from local fire boards, to mayors to state senators -- similarly criticized the road map.
But Mobile Future said the road map offers a consensus proposal and the FCC should not weight it down with proposals in the February NPRM. “The Roadmap was developed as a result of the NPRM in this proceeding,” Mobile Future said. “The Commission proposed aspirational horizontal and vertical location accuracy rules that were not based on validated solutions. Consequently, the record demonstrated that the proposed rules were technologically infeasible.”
State NENA organizations are rallying behind the industry/APCO/NENA plan. NENA branches from states including New York, Michigan, Virginia and Indiana filed this week in support of the road map. The plan has tallied almost 200 comments to date.
Meanwhile, APCO, CTIA and NENA offered the FCC recommendations on uncertainty estimates and confidence levels for wireless 911 calls, in a report filed at the FCC Tuesday. The groups said the “best resolution” is for carriers and public safety to agree on a common confidence level for all carriers and all positioning methods. “Rather than focusing on the underlying performance characteristics of various individual positioning methods, public safety should focus on the uncertainty estimate associated with any given 9-1-1 call/location request,” the report said. “Once confidence levels are standardized, this parameter (uncertainty) will have the most meaning for a call taker, and can be consistently applied and interpreted across all carriers and location methods.”