More than 2/3 of Americans live in areas where wireless 911 calls provide emergency operators with basic enhanced 911 information, such as caller location and call back number, the National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) said. Still, 57.3% of counties aren’t providing this information, said NENA. “Much work still needs to be done to provide this life-saving service in the significantly high number of counties, predominately rural, where it is still not available,” said NENA Pres. David Jones. “The public needs and deserves wireless E9-1, regardless of where they live or where they may visit or travel through.”

The Senate approved FCC nominees Comr. Copps and Deborah Tate by unanimous consent just before adjourning Wed. night for the holidays, after they were freed from holds imposed in a legislative rumpus. The approvals mean a balanced FCC, with 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans. Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) said recently he hopes the White House soon will name a candidate for the remaining 5th commissionership. The Copps/Tate approval uncorked a Thurs. gush of trade group plaudits. NENA hailed FCC Comr. Copps’s work on 911 issues, and said Tate has shown she see the importance of advanced communications technology. TIA praised Copps for his work on broadband issues, saying it looks forward to developing a working relationship with Tate. NAB and AT&T also sent out congratulatory statements.

Major wireless carriers face an uphill battle persuading the FCC to suspend a Dec. 31 deadline for 95% of handsets be location capable, at least based on limited waivers granted so far for smaller Tier 3 carriers, said industry and public safety sources.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) raised red flags about a request from wireless reseller TracFone that the FCC potentially lighten the regulatory load placed on it if it’s designated as the first wireless reseller with eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) status under the USF lifeline program. Public safety sources said Tues. while TracFone is relatively small compared to a few of its peers, the issues raised aren’t, especially if other resellers also apply for ETC status.

The National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) Board approved the “interim” VoIP architecture for E-911, as i2. NENA said adoption of the interim standard is a “migratory step” toward a more long-range solution under which all E- 911 will be IP-based. One VoIP operator source said the development provides “further stability” for the industry. Patrick Halley, govt. affairs dir. at NENA, said the plan provides the basic standard for “how you connect an IP- enabled voice service into the legacy 911 system, which is all analog, circuit-switched technology.” Many VoIP providers have already adopted parts of the standard as they developed plans for complying with FCC requirements they make their systems E-911 compliant, and now they may be more likely to adopt the entire standard, Halley told us. Most of the leading VoIP providers and all the major VoIP position companies like Intrado participated in development of the standard, he said. Halley predicted that parts of the emergency system will be modernized quickly. “In the near future a lot of the stuff we're talking about can be implemented,” he said. “NENA’s vision since the development of the 911 Future Path Plan in 2001 has been, and continues to be, to modernize E- 911,” said Billy Ragsdale, chmn. of the NENA Technical Committee: “The interim solution standard is the first major step to support VoIP E-911 and to redesign E-911 for present and future needs.”

VoIP providers began reporting to the FCC late last week on their efforts to meet a mandate that service territories be fully E-911 compliant by today (Nov. 28). The FCC has told VoIP firms they must stop marketing to new customers if they can’t offer E-911 to all current customers by today. Dozens of VoIP companies are set to report by end of business today, giving a snapshot of how well providers are complying with the rule and the tools they're using to provide E-911. Some providers will miss the mark, due to trouble getting access to selective routers, reliance on 3rd-party vendors that can’t offer full compliance and other factors, sources say.

A National Emergency Number Assn. (NENA) reference guide offers service providers help in building VoIP E-911 call routing systems. The guide includes PSAP contact information and names, types and operators of selective routers across the U.S. It also tells which PSAPs the routers support.

Public safety groups aren’t too concerned about Verizon Wireless request for waiver of the FCC’s Dec. 31 deadline to achieve 95% penetration of location-capable handsets among its subscribers. But they say the FCC should scrutinize a similar request by Nextel Partners. Verizon Wireless has said it would come close to meeting the 95% requirement but will need up to an additional 6 months to cross the threshold. “Verizon Wireless appears to have made significant efforts to meet its E-911 obligations, and those efforts should be given appropriate consideration in the Commission’s review of its waiver request,” APCO said. But it said “Nextel Partners poses a very different scenario,” because it’s “not even close to meeting the 95% requirement.” APCO said Nextel Partner’s “results for the iDEN network are extremely troubling and require close scrutiny by the Commission.” NENA said Verizon Wireless and Nextel Partners based their requests in part on lagging PSAP readiness to receive and use Phase II wireless caller location information and based their assertions on outdated statistics. It said the most recent data shows 78% of PSAPs have some Phase I capability and 52.6% Phase II. NENA said that “based on Verizon’s reported efforts and its near-achievement of the 95% threshold,” it has “no objection” to the waiver, provided that quarterly reporting continues. But it said if relief is granted to Nextel Partners, “it should be for only a year, to December 31, 2006, with the possibility of extension if quarterly reports show acceptable levels of conversion efforts.” Nextel Partners sought the relief until Dec. 31, 2007, but NENA said “excluding the glitch phones, if Partners could effect 1% conversion per month, they would reach 95% before the end of 2006.” CTIA supported Verizon Wireless petition and urged the FCC to suspend the ALI-capable handset penetration deadline for all similarly situated wireless carriers whose digital wireless activations are 100% location-capable at year- end.

The “vast majority” of 2.5 million VoIP subscribers will have E-911 service by Nov. 28, as required by the FCC, VON Coalition said in a progress report. Of 12 major interconnected VoIP service providers surveyed, 42% estimate that 100% of their customers will have E-911 for their primary fixed location by Nov. 28, the study said. But it said there would be 750,000 mostly nomadic residential VoIP customers who will have access to only basic 911, not E-911, by the deadline. The survey said 42% of respondents expect to have to disconnect customers to comply with the FCC order. Some challenges cited by VoIP providers in adopting E-911 include: (1) No direct access to trunks, selective routers and E-911 databases. (2) A tough deadline. (3) Absence of an interim numbering administrator. (4) Lack of leverage for small companies negotiating with 3rd party 911 providers. (5) 911 gateway providers charging high prices. (6) PSAP outreach. “Additional regulatory flexibility and time would facilitate the continued deployment of E-911,” the VON Coalition said. It urged the FCC not to require interconnected VoIP providers to disconnect customers who have basic or E-911 service. “VoIP should be treated like every other phone service where policymakers chose specifically not to shut off of a basic 911 service while E-911 is being deployed,” VON Coalition said: “Shutting off service could undermine the important progress created by the FCC’s E-911 order.” The survey said the FCC order accelerated E-911 efforts prompting greater industry cooperation and coordination, greater public awareness of the issue and new efforts to designate a pseudo-ANI Administrator. But the VON Coalition warned that “it’s not yet technically and operationally possible” to provide E-911 for all VoIP users by the Nov. 28 deadline because no nationwide solutions exist for fixed or nomadic service. Survey respondents said VoIP offers other emergency benefits, beyond E-911, with 92% citing the ability to move a VoIP phone to another location in an emergency, 83% pointing out to the ability to use VoIP over any network and 75% citing the ability to speed the transition to an IP-based emergency network capable of emergency advances not available on today’s phone network. The progress report was released in wake of a 2-year anniversary of VON’s agreement with NENA to adopt 911 technologies for VoIP.

NENA has formed a task force to set up a national cadre of telecommunicator emergency response teams to safeguard 911 service during crises. The group, made up of NENA and APCO state representatives, met Oct. 25 in Greensboro, N.C., and will meet Jan. 23 in Anaheim during the Cal. NENA chapter annual meeting. The aim is to help states prepare “deploy trained, recognized teams of telecommunicators whenever a local 911 infrastructure is compromised by a natural disaster or terrorist event,” NENA said.