WASHINGTON-A federal district judge has sent back to the Federal Communications Commission a class-action suit against several carriers and handset manufacturers regarding whether their phones comply with the FCC’s 911 strongest-signal rules.
“Plaintiffs argue that this language clearly and unequivocally indicates that the 17-second rule deems a call complete when it is transmitted to the base station and then to the landline phone system. We disagree with the plaintiffs; it is not clear from the language exactly what act must be performed by the handset in 17 seconds,” wrote Judge John Grady of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division. “The intricacies of cellular call technology lead us to the conclusion that resolving the ambiguities of the rules is not within our conventional expertise, but is within the FCC’s field of expertise. Moreover, there does not seem to be any dispute that a consistent and uniform rule is necessary, and we are mindful of the possibility of inconsistent rulings. The issue has already been before the FCC, but the FCC has not spoken in a clear manner.”
The Wireless Consumers Alliance filed several lawsuits late last year claiming that none of the 33 phones it tested met the FCC’s 911 strongest-signal rules adopted in 1999. Earlier this year, all of the cases were consolidated with the Chicago suit.
The FCC gave the carriers and their manufacturer partners several options on how to implement its 1999 strongest-signal rules. Under one option, the phone must inform the caller that a 911 call has been placed by both an audible message and a message on the phone screen, and the phone must connect to the preferred carrier within 17 seconds or switch to the non-preferred carrier. All phones with an analog mode were required to comply with this rule as of Feb. 13, 2000.
“I am confident the FCC will reaffirm its decision that call completion means the delivery of the emergency call to the landline network,” said WCA President Carl Hilliard.
The FCC’s view on the 17-second rule was thrown into doubt earlier this year when Nokia Corp. entered into a consent decree, and documents were referenced that gave a different interpretation.
“We’re in the process of reviewing the decision,” said Meribeth McCarrick, spokeswoman for the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
