WASHINGTON-Wireless carriers may receive a reprieve in deploying enhanced 911 services if the public-safety answering point is not ready at the end of the mandated six-month implementation window, said the Federal Communications Commission in an order released late last month.
“These 15-day timeframes should both reduce a carrier’s ability to use a documentation request as a delaying tactic, and minimize unnecessary carrier expenditures in those situations where the PSAP is unable to demonstrate that it will be ready to receive and utilize the requested E911 information by the end of the six-month period allotted for carrier compliance. . When the carrier is unable to begin providing Phase II service at the end of the six-month period because the PSAP is in fact not capable of receiving and utilizing Phase II information-the carrier will not be held in violation of our rules for failing to deliver timely service,” said the FCC.
Carriers have long complained that they are subject to enforcement if they do not deploy E911 services within six months of a PSAP request since the PSAP is not under such threat.
The FCC’s action clarifies the procedures a carrier may go through to prove to the FCC that it has done everything possible to deploy E911 but must wait for the PSAP to finish the implementation. Carriers can now certify to the commission that they are waiting for PSAP action but must first warn the PSAP of their intention to do so.
While the FCC strongly encourages PSAPs to include readiness documentation with their request for E911, carriers may request that information and if it is not supplied within 15 days, their implementation deadline is extended.
Finally, the FCC said that a carrier and PSAP can come to a mutually agreed upon timetable different than the six-month deadlines in its rules.
The rule changes, which came in response to reconsideration petitions regarding the City of Richardson (E911 readiness) rules, are meant to spur everyone to communicate, said the FCC.
