FCC
Secures Life-saving Commitments from Wireless Carriers to Deliver 911 Vertical
Location Information Nationwide within Seven Days
FCC
Reached Enforceable Settlements with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon
FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today announced breakthrough agreements with America’s three largest mobile phone providers to start delivering vertical location information in connection with 911 calls nationwide in the coming days. This information will help first responders quickly locate 911 callers in multi-story buildings, which will reduce response times and ultimately save lives.
The
FCC adopted rules to improve location information for 911 wireless calls back
in 2015. Those rules required nationwide wireless providers to deploy
dispatchable location or meet certain z-axis location accuracy requirements in
the nation’s largest 25 markets by April 3, 2021, and to certify to such
deployment by June 2, 2021. AT&T, T-Mobile,
and Verizon sought an extension of these deadlines, based in part on challenges
with testing z-axis solutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the
FCC announced an Enforcement Bureau inquiry into these providers’ compliance
with the FCC’s deadlines as well as the current capabilities of z-axis
solutions.
To
improve public safety and greatly speed up nationwide implementation of
vertical location information, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau reached settlements
with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon that resolve the investigations. The
settlements require each company to start providing wireless 911 callers’
z-axis location information to 911 call centers within seven days; to implement
a compliance plan that includes specific testing, reporting, and public interest
conditions; and to pay a $100,000 settlement amount. These enforceable commitments extend
beyond the twenty-five largest metropolitan areas required under FCC rules and
instead assures that vertical location information will be made available to
public safety entities nationwide. The settlements also will provide
public safety stakeholders with greater visibility into industry progress
toward dispatchable location and floor-level accuracy and guidance on receiving
and using z-axis information. Under these agreements, the FCC, carriers,
and public safety can move forward collaboratively to better protect American
lives.
“Six
years is too long to wait for 911 vertical location information that can save
lives,” said FCC Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “These settlements
accomplish what has evaded the agency for too long: they ensure that the
FCC, public safety, and wireless carriers work together to immediately start
delivering this information to first responders without further delay.
They also ensure that we are improving our 911 location accuracy capabilities
everywhere in the country and not just in the top 25 markets. This
progress will advance important public safety objectives and benefit all
Americans.”
Source: FCC media announcement
