WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission is evaluating a proposal that would require cellular carriers to program cell phones to send 911 calls to the A or B side system that offers the best signal. The so-called strongest signal proposal has placed the FCC in the position of deciding whether this is good for public safety. A public-interest group, the Ad Hoc Alliance for Public Access to 911, argues that it is, while the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association says it is not.
Public-safety officials support the industry in opposing strongest signal because they believe it will reduce the ability and capacity of cellular 911 systems to handle a high volume of simultaneous emergency calls, reduce the area capacity by 50 percent and overload the 911 trunk capacity of one carrier while not using the other carrier’s trunks.
A report filed with the FCC by the Trott Communications Group claims Trott has conducted studies that dispute these concerns. The studies “found that in most high-density areas, the signal strength of the two carriers are nearly equal. The study, which measured signal strengths in `core’ areas, showed that in such areas, the strongest signal changes back and forth from one carrier to the other … the strongest carrier is likely to change from car to car along a traffic lane,” the Trott Group’s report said.
A CTIA spokesman questioned the validity of the studies. “It seems to me that if the public-safety community is against something, that should tell you something about the science,” said Jeffrey Nelson, CTIA director of communications.
Public-safety officials expect to file documents with the FCC this week that will urge the FCC to reject the ad hoc alliance’s proposal. “We are the public-safety communications experts so we take exception to a consumer advocacy group dictating a method which has the potential and even the probability of harming more consumers than it helps,” said John Melcher, a public-safety official in Texas and wireless industry liaison for the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA).
The strongest-signal issue is interesting in that both sides believe the other side has won. CTIA President Thomas Wheeler said last week, “The thing that frustrates me the most and the reason I am sounding off is that the signals we are getting are that the [FCC] believes this is easy … It isn’t. It cuts down on safety.”
On the other hand, the ad hoc alliance believes CTIA has spent so much money on lobbying the FCC that the agency will support the CTIA position. “[CTIA] They are spending millions of dollars to screw the consumer. They are involved in [lobbying efforts] that are anti-consumer,” said Jonathan Linkous of the alliance.
The alliance’s comments are indicative of the fight between the two sides with both sides “sling mud.” The alliance claims it can’t win the fight because the other side has millions of dollars to spend, while the industry believes the alliance is not the volunteer organization it claims to be but rather is funded by those that would benefit financially from the strongest-signal mandate.
Clues as to what the FCC might decide are hard to decipher. A statement from Daniel Phythyon, chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, said, “The [FCC] always treats public-safety concerns with the highest priority. In the near future when we do issue a decision on the E911 strongest-signal proceeding, consumers and industry can both be assured that the basis of our decision will be what best promotes the safety of American citizens.” He reiterated those statements before the Senate communications subcommittee.
Wheeler would prefer that the FCC not decide this issue anytime soon, which would give the industry and public safety time to develop a technical solution to connect calls. CTIA will be delivering to the standards body June 3 a standards requirement document (SRI) asking the standards body to do an analysis of what is best for safety, what is the best way to help 911 without hurting safety and asking the standards body to address the issue to make sure 911 calls go through in a way that enhances safety, Wheeler said.
The analysis should be completed by the time the standards body meets again in September, Wheeler said.
