A plan to implement and deploy improved location accuracy capability for 911 calls features a test bed, milestones based on live wireless 911 call data, and reporting metrics for live calls. The plan, released Tuesday evening, was drafted by AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, and the public safety entities APCO and the National Emergency Number Association. The parties said the plan proposes to allow first responders to have a “dispatchable” location through the availability of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies (see 1411170045).

SAN FRANCISCO -- State agencies are working to address vulnerabilities in Next-Generation 911 (NG-911) and text-to-911 even as they advance deployment of the technologies, state officials said Tuesday. The April 2014 multi-state 911 outage is the latest example of the “accelerating” trend of 911 outages caused by increasingly advanced 911 technologies, said FCC Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth during a panel discussion at a NARUC conference. The Bureau released a report in October that found a “preventable software error” at a 911 call processing center in Englewood, Colorado, was responsible for the outage (see 1410170057).

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.

The current version of text-to-911, which is based on SMS, has to be viewed as only a “down payment” on what is possible, David Furth, deputy chief of the FCC Public Safety Bureau, said Friday at the agency's Accessible Wireless Emergency Communications Forum at FCC headquarters. A National Emergency Number Association official said public safety answering points still need a push to make PSAP systems text ready.

APCO and the National Emergency Number Association urged the FCC to require that texts to 911 contain information allowing 911 call centers to locate the sender, as soon as practical. But both public safety groups also recognized in filings that short message service (SMS) texts are not the wave of the future and cautioned that the FCC should make allowances for the development of next-generation 911 networks.

Concerns raised by rival Neustar about naming Telcordia the next Local Number Portability Administrator (LPNA) have already been addressed, Telcordia said in its final reply comments. To the extent that issues like Telcordia’s ability to stay neutral, protect the security of the network from intrusion and work effectively with law enforcement agencies remain unaddressed, they can be dealt with after the FCC formally awards it the contract, said Telcordia’s filing (http://bit.ly/1vGSFny), posted on Monday.

The FCC should ensure that tools and applications for the timely and economical management of 911 data currently in use remain available to 911 providers at no cost, and that any transition to a new LNPA (see separate report above) must not be allowed to adversely affect 911 data management, the National Emergency Number Association, also known as NENA: The 9-1-1 Association, said in reply comments (http://bit.ly/1AEYa96) Friday, posted to docket 09-109. To the extent LNPA candidates have not been asked about their ability to maintain number portability services 911 providers rely on, the FCC should consider amending the request for proposals to require confirmation that these critical services will continue to be available, the association said.

The FCC Friday approved, over one dissent and two partial dissents, rules requiring all carriers and interconnected over-the-top text providers to have the capacity to transmit emergency texts to 911 call centers by the end of the year. The FCC also approved a further NPRM asking about such issues as extending the mandate to non-interconnected OTT providers and on rules for determining the location of those sending the texts and making the system work for subscribers roaming on another network.

No voluntary agreement is taking shape on standards for location accuracy for 911 calls made indoors, and it may be time for the FCC to step in and regulate, commented the National Emergency Number Association. In February, amid concerns raised by commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O'Rielly, the FCC proposed revised rules for all 911 calls, including standards for indoor calls (CD Feb 21 p1). Pai said proposed deadlines were “aspirational” rather than based on what carriers can realistically be expected to achieve. The FCC posted comments this week in docket 07-114.

The FCC should avoid imposing regulations and rely instead on voluntary agreements allowing more Americans to send emergency texts to 911, CTIA said in comments filed in response to a January rulemaking notice. The FCC agreed to seek further comment on issues including whether to impose a text-to-911 mandate on interconnected over-the-top (OTT) text providers like Apple’s iMessage or Samsung’s ChatOn (CD Jan 31 p3).