WASHINGTON-In a March 12 letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman Reed Hundt, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) asked that an “immediate ruling requiring newly manufactured cellular phones to select the strongest compatible signal whenever a 911 call is placed” be issued by the commission. The congresswoman was following up on a request sent to Hundt Feb. 10 by the Ad Hoc Alliance for Public Access to 911, and on the fact that the commission “is unnecessarily delaying a final decision regarding enhanced 911 emergency calling systems (CC Docket No, 94-102).”
The Alliance, made up of 13 consumer, safety and technology groups, had first petitioned the commission for such a requirement in late 1995, when its independent testing found coverage holes in individual cellular systems. It came up with the plan to stipulate that all cellular phones be able to lock on to an A or B frequency-depending on whose signal was the strongest-whenever an emergency call was made. The commission requested further technical-feasibility demonstrations from the group, which were performed in July, 1996.
“The tests also demonstrated that when the coverage areas for different carriers serving the same community are overlaid, most of the gaps in coverage are filled in,” commented Eshoo’s office in a written statement. “That means the selection of the strongest signal will enable a caller to reach 911 in locations where the call otherwise would not be completed. The Alliance showed that selection of the strongest compatible signal can be accomplished with a simple, inexpensive software change that will take manufacturers approximately five months to implement.”
