WASHINGTON-Cingular Wireless Inc. plans to file a waiver from the enhanced 911 Phase II rules, probably within the next two weeks, said Brian Fontes, Cingular vice president for federal relations, confirming hints made last month by Stephen Carter, Cingular’s chief executive officer.
Cingular chose the handset option for its GSM markets and a network-based solution for its TDMA markets. Because Cingular is the combination of the various wireless properties of BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., its network uses a mix of GSM and TDMA technologies.
In April, Andrew Clegg, Cingular’s director of advanced technology, caused a stir at an industry 911 conference when he said Cingular would soon file a waiver to allow it to deploy enhanced time difference of arrival in its GSM network.
Fontes could not confirm exactly what would be in the waiver.
It is also unclear whether Cingular will ask that its testing data-Clegg said the nation’s second-largest carrier has tested every E911 solution-be kept confidential. AT&T Wireless Services Inc. requested its information be kept confidential when it filed for its waiver in April. The carrier said its E911 testing showed that solutions available do not meet the government’s accuracy requirements. AT&T said it could not put this information out to the public because it had signed nondisclosure agreements with vendors.
In May, the FCC denied AT&T Wireless’ confidentiality request. Most likely, carriers filing waivers will have to go through the same two-step process as AT&T did.
“The nondisclosure agreements are obviously contracts that are reached between the carriers and the vendors … [Carriers] They are free to reach another agreement without our intervention. … The FCC is hesitant to issue something that would interfere with existing contracts to the extent that we don’t have to. The parties are perfectly free to make this information part of the public record. They don’t have to go through this two-step process,” said Kris Ann Monteith, chief of the policy division of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
Fontes said the FCC doesn’t understand how the business process works. “It is very interesting that the wireless bureau would like us to renegotiate contracts. This could only possibly delay things and make matters worse when the FCC could easily order carriers who have conducted tests subject to nondisclosure agreements to submit this information. Which do you think would be easier and less time consuming?
“On a positive note, I am pleased to see the FCC is interested in seeing how these technologies test in a real-world environment. That is a positive sign. It is important for the commission and particularly those in the public-safety community to have access to the testing results,” he added.
Cingular will join AT&T and Nextel Communications Inc. in their quests for waivers. The FCC has approved a waiver for VoiceStream Wireless Corp. to deploy EOTD technology.
In addition to hinting about a possible waiver, Carter said the FCC should relax the accuracy standards for Phase II service.
E911 service is being deployed in two phases.
Phase I required carriers to supply a callback number and cell-site location information to public-safety answering points. Phase II requires more precise location information. Handset-based solutions must be able to locate the caller within 50 meters 67 percent of the time and within 150 meters 95 percent of the time. Network-based solutions must be able to locate the caller within 100 meters 67 percent of the time and within 300 meters 95 percent of the time. Carriers choosing a handset-based solution have until Oct. 1 to start selling handsets with automatic location information. The new schedule calls for 25 percent of all new handsets activated by Dec. 31 to be ALI-capable. This number rises to 50 percent on June 30, 2002, and 100 percent on Dec. 31, 2002. Carriers choosing network-based solutions must deploy the solution within six months of a PSAP request.
The FCC originally set the accuracy standards for network-based solutions based on a consensus agreement reached between carriers and the public-safety community. When the FCC allowed handset-based solutions, it based the accuracy standards on test results in the record, said an FCC official, adding that the forecast that these accuracy standards can be met seems to be being borne out.
For the FCC to relax the accuracy standards at this point would require a further notice of proposed rule making and such action is unlikely to be completed before the Oct. 1 deadline, said Monteith.
“We are beyond the point which [carriers] can file petitions for reconsideration. To the extent that [carriers] are asking for a blanket rule change, we would have to go through a [FNPRM]. It would be very difficult for us to go out with a FNPRM and conclude it before Oct. 1,” said Monteith.
While the wireless community waits to see if Cingular files for a waiver, action is moving forward on AT&T and Nextel’s waiver requests.
Recently AT&T said only public-safety entities had objected to its waiver request that would allow it to deploy mobile-assisted network location system technology for its TDMA network and then deploy EOTD as it overlays its GSM network. AT&T Wireless plans to overlay its TDMA network with GSM technology as a path to third-generation wireless.
In addition, VoiceStream added its voice in support of the waiver, saying that each carrier’s circumstances is unique and AT&T’s decision to transition from TDMA to GSM technology qualified it for a waiver.
Nextel filed last month a two-inch document explaining its choice of assisted-global positioning system (A-GPS) technology, but still stated it cannot meet the Oct. 1 deadline, instead setting a timeline that would require A-GPS handsets in 95 percent of its subscribers’ hands by Dec. 31, 2005.
The Nextel document shows a time-consuming and expensive process that led it to make the A-GPS choice.
“Nextel spent a quarter-of-a-million dollars to develop the location trial software, implement the necessary infrastructure preparations, conduct the testing and obtain an independent final report on which to base its Phase II technology decision,” said Nextel.
Also, the FCC asked Nextel to explain how its reported transition from iDEN technology to CDMA would impact its 911 deployment.
“Despite recent confusion created by various press reports, Nextel has no plans to `change its air interface standards from iDEN to CDMA.’ Nextel intends to continue offering its iDEN product and service indefinitely,” said Nextel.
Leaving the world of waivers, the FCC said May 25 that it is seeking comment on whether there is a general technical solution that would enable non-initialized wireless phones to transmit a call-back number when dialing 911. The FCC currently requires carriers to connect 911 calls to PSAPs from non-initialized handsets, but because the users are not subscribers, there is not an accompanying telephone number sent. The possibility of a technical solution is encompassed in a larger rule making that seeks comments on a variety of solutions to the non-initialized phone problem.
Notwithstanding the various options the FCC sets forth, the commission still seemed concerned about the lack of a callback number in situations where the caller may not know his location or may not be able to tell the location.
“We are concerned that labeling, like encoding a nondialable number, is insufficient to ensure the benefits of our E911 requirements because it cannot take the place of a PSAP’s ability to recontact a 911 caller if the PSAP needs vital information concerning the caller’s location or specific emergency needs prior to dispatching emergency services,” said the FCC.
Comments on the FNPRM are due July 9. Replies due Aug. 8.
