WASHINGTON-Alltel Corp. said it will not meet the Dec. 31 enhanced-911 handset deadline and asked the Federal Communications Commission for a year-and-a-half extension.
“Alltel has initiated numerous marketing and communications campaigns encouraging consumers to upgrade their handsets, including eliminating fees, reducing prices for handsets, and using promotional campaigns through bill inserts, retail outlets and the company’s Web site to encourage conversion,” the company said. “However, customers in Alltel’s predominantly rural areas, and many of the company’s low-usage customers, have resisted converting to location-based handsets.”
The FCC requires wireless carriers that chose E-911 handset solutions to have 95 percent of their in-use handsets capable of locating subscribers (within 50 meters 67 percent of the time and within 150 meters 95 percent of the time) by Dec. 31. Alltel said about 85 percent of its consumers will have E-911 capability by that date. The carrier asked the FCC to extend the deadline to June 30, 2007.
Sprint Nextel Corp. earlier petitioned the agency for an additional two years to meet the E-911 handset requirements on its iDEN networks. In July, CTIA, the largest mobile-phone association, and the Rural Cellular Association asked for an E-911 rule waiver because various members of their organizations cannot meet the Dec. 31 handset deadline.
