Sadly lost in the debate over wireless E911 is life itself. The mobile-phone industry and we in the press are engrossed in an E911 debate focussed on deadlines, waivers, costs and technologies. Then comes the tragic story of Karla Gutierrez. Her death instantly puts it all into perspective. Above all, it cries out for political courage and leadership on E911 implementation.
After her car ran off the road into a canal off the Florida Turnpike in February, Gutierrez spent the last three-and-a-half minutes of her life talking on her mobile phone to a 911 dispatcher. Then she died. The 32-year-old Gutierrez drowned before emergency rescuers could find her.
It is horrible enough that Gutierrez died at all. But can anyone out there guarantee me she would have stood a better chance of surviving had the accident occurred after Oct. 1, 2001? That’s the date when mobile-phone carriers are supposed to begin making the E911 location technology available to the nation’s 112 million mobile-phone subscribers.
There are deadlines, and then there are deadlines. Oct. 1 also happens to be the date the new fiscal year begins. But rarely is the new federal budget passed by Congress and signed by the president by Sept. 30. In other words, the deadline is meaningless like so many other things in official Washington. Will that be true of the E911 Phase II deadline as well?
Tell me, will any of the six major mobile-phone carriers offer location-based E911 by Oct. 1? The Federal Communications Commission already has granted a waiver to Voice- Stream Wireless Corp. to give it more time to find a technology that works. The FCC is considering a waiver request from Nextel Communications, which has charitably offered to donate $25 million to modernize public safety answering points if, it too, can buy more time on E911 Phase II. We understand AT&T Wireless may seek an E911 Phase II waiver eventually. Will the others-Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS and Cingular Wireless-seek waivers, too?
More importantly, how will the FCC-under new Chairman Michael Powell-address further delays of E911 Phase II implementation? Will Powell make good on his talk of enforcement?
“Ms. Gutierrez’s tragedy occurred in a crucial period where wireless carriers and public safety entities are supposed to be deploying wireless location technology under existing FCC rules,” said W. Mark Adams, executive director of the National Emergency Number Association. “This tragedy should serve as a reminder to all parties concerned that location information is a valuable tool in saving lives.”
