WASHINGTON-Even with President Clinton’s decision last week to dramatically improve global positioning system accuracy for civilians, vendors that offer a network-based E911 solution say their products are still valid.
Meanwhile, mobile-phone carriers remain tight-lipped about which location-based wireless technology they will choose to meet enhanced 911 rules for the nation’s 91 million subscribers.
Wireless carriers must inform the Federal Communications Commission by Oct. 1 of their technology choice for the second phase of E911 implementation, which mandates that carriers locate mobile-phone callers within several hundred feet in coming years.
The new GPS signal, which no longer will be degraded for national security reasons, is accurate to within tens of feet.
Wireless location technology falls into two major categories: handset-based and network-based. However, there are hybrid location technologies and variations of both handset-based and network-based Phase II E911 solutions in development.
“We have not announced our technology choice,” said Tom Murphy, a spokesman for Sprint PCS.
Verizon Wireless, the nation’s No. 1 mobile-phone operator, is saying very little about its E911 location technology preference as well. “We have not made a decision and still are evaluating technologies,” said Jim Gerace, vice president of public relations for Verizon.
Gerace said it is too early to discern the impact of Clinton’s new GPS policy on the wireless industry. “We’re not going to reject anything on its face,” he said.
“We haven’t chosen a vendor or a technology for our E911 solution,” said Dan Youmans, a spokesman for AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
Jeff Eade, manager of base station technology for VoiceStream Wireless, said the carrier likely will deploy handset- and network-based E911 services throughout the country.
Eade said he believes wireless carriers are in a wait-and-see mode, hoping that a winning solution emerges that meets FCC E911 requirements.
Based on trials to date and interviews last week, it appears top mobile phone carriers that use Time Division Multiple Access (like AT&T) and European-based Global System for Mobile communications technologies (like VoiceStream Wireless) are leaning toward network-based E911 systems.
In contrast, there appears to be a split between the nation’s top two Code Division Multiple Access carriers.
Sprint PCS is closely aligned with a network-assisted GPS technology developed by SnapTrack Inc., a San Jose firm owned by Qualcomm Inc.
Verizon shows signs of leaning toward a network-based E911 solution.
E-commerce promises
In addition to aiding emergency wireless callers, wireless location promises to be a huge asset to carriers that want to offer electronic mobile commerce.
Indeed, Lew Turnquist, executive vice president of Cell-Loc in Calgary, Canada, said his firm is moving forward regardless of how E911 location technology plays out in the United States.
“The carrier community is ignoring the greater opportunity at the expense of E911,” said Turnquist. “It (mobile e-commerce) is a pot of gold.”
Turnquist claims GPS-based E911 solutions have technical and practical limitations compared to network-based location systems.
One possibility, according to industry experts, is that CDMA, TDMA and GSM carriers will not take a monolithic approach toward E911 location technology deployment. Rather, for roaming and other reasons, carriers may embrace varying combinations of handset- and network-based E911 location technologies.
Phase I E911, which requires wireless carriers to supply emergency dispatchers with a caller’s telephone number and the location of the nearest cell site, went into effect in April 1998. The wireless industry and public-safety community are far behind in rolling out Phase I E911, though much progress has been made in the past six months.
While there is disagreement on the implications of the new White House GPS policy, first reported by RCR on April 17, there is little doubt that the Clinton administration has injected a powerful new dynamic and possibly a new controversy into the wireless E911 equation.
While benefiting E911, the White House GPS policy shift is part of a broader political strategy to make GPS the pre-eminent satellite-based solution.
“I think it’s significant … because you start with more accurate raw data,” said Clem Driscoll, a 911 expert with C.J. Driscoll & Associates in Palos Verdes, Calif.
At the same time, Driscoll and others predict the new GPS policy will not necessarily result in a wholesale migration away from network-based wireless location technology to handset-based E911 solutions. `I think there will be a combination,” said Driscoll.
Administration officials said their decision to stop scrambling the civilian GPS signal last Monday was based on national-security considerations, and was not timed to gain leverage against Europe at the World Radiocommunication Conference. France is building a GPS-like system called Galileo for the European Union.
Both the EU and the United States are looking for additional satellite location frequencies at WRC-2000, which starts today and runs through June 2 in Istanbul.
To support its forecast that GPS has $8 billion global market potential, the administration may have crossed the line of technology neutrality. The Commerce Department said satellite-based GPS location technology “could become the method of choice for implementing the E911 requirement. A GPS-based solution might be simpler and more economical than alternative techniques such as radio tower triangulation, leading to lower consumer costs.”
Michael Amarosa, vice president of public relations for TruePosition Inc., applauded Clinton’s announcement but downplayed its impact.
“Nothing indicates this will have an effect economically or time-wise,” said Amarosa. TruePosition supplies network-based wireless location services. It has conducted trials using analog, TDMA and CDMA wireless technologies. Amarosa said TruePosition will conduct trials using GSM technology in the near future.
“We’re ready to go. I welcome any competition,” said Amarosa.
“I believe this … does not change anything at all,” said Charles Hinkle, of KSI, a wireless location firm in Annandale, Va., that in February signed a letter of intent to be acquired by TruePosition.
SnapTrack said the White House decision to stop degrading the GPS signal is not the end of the story.
“There are a lot of sources of interference and you still have to correct for that,” said Ellen Kirk.
While network-based solutions cannot match the pinpoint accuracy of the improved GSP signal, network-based wireless location systems are said to offer coverage and reliability advantages over GPS as well as the potential of revenue from commercial and traffic safety applications.
Vendors of handset- and network-based E911 disagree on which technology is least costly to deploy.
