FCC To Vote on VoIP 911 Order During Agenda Meeting
An order to require VoIP providers to give customers access to E-911 service is on the agenda for the FCC’s open meeting Thurs., as expected, but it’s not clear if that order will be as strongly worded as proponents want. The order is expected to require VoIP providers to offer adequate access in 120 days, which probably would put the deadline in mid or late Sept. The order probably won’t set any requirements for ILECs to open network facilities VoIP providers say they need to offer full 911 service.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Chmn. Martin’s proposed order hasn’t gained much input from other commissioners yet, so lobbyists say they don’t know if the language will change. Right now it places the “onus” on VoIP providers rather than ILECs, one lobbyist said. The FCC might urge ILECs to cooperate, but probably won’t have set specific requirements for them, an industry representative said. The item, although new, will be voted on as an order rather than as a proposal because it stems from a pending notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on IP-Enabled Services. FCC Chmn. Martin has emphasized the need to act quickly because of the importance of 911 service.
VoIP providers have been lobbying hard, judging from a flurry of last-minute ex parte meetings. Vonage representatives on Wed. told aides to FCC Comrs. Adelstein and Abernathy it wants to provide customers full E-911 services but needs “an enforceable right to access the 911 infrastructure” controlled by ILECs. Vonage said in a report on the meetings: “Although many [Bell companies] have issued press releases championing their efforts to deploy VoIP 911 -- most of these solutions do not accommodate nomadic applications either because they cannot handle out of rate center telephone numbers or, as is the case with others, ALI (automatic location information) steering is unavailable. Without ALI steering capability, ALI information cannot be transmitted t the 911 dispatcher and true E-911 cannot be provided.”
Industry filings in response to FCC questions suggest the issues commissioners are weighing. The Bells have been telling the agency they already provide access. Verizon sent an ex parte letter Wed. answering Commission questions about steps it’s taking to give VoIP venders the ability to access dispatchers at public safety answering points (PSAPs). Vonage sent a letter saying it believes the Commission has legal authority to require ILECs to provide access to 911 structure, even though most 911 calls take place inside particular states.
Earthlink said it met with FCC commissioners’ staff and told them: “If the FCC intends to impose a blanket E- 911 requirement in a short period of time, it is a drastic departure from the FCC’s E-911 approach to wireless carriers, where the FCC formulated specific requirements over several years and [took into consideration] operational feasibility of the service providers.” Earthlink said “a blanket rule requiring VoIP providers to become E-911 compliant within 120 days would subject VoIP providers to enormous liability disproportionate to that imposed on wireline and wireless carriers.”
Also on the agenda is a proposal to examine the administration of the universal service fund. The FCC in early March hired a consulting firm to decide if the agency can improve USF management.