The full FCC has yet to start considering an order addressing the...
The full FCC has yet to start considering an order addressing the concerns raised by CTIA and the Rural Cellular Assn. last summer that wireless carriers won’t meet a Dec. 31 deadline that 95% of the handsets on their…
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!
networks be location-capable, sources said. As a result, the FCC is expected to let the deadline pass without action. Carriers told the FCC in a July filing that due to the wireless market’s evolution and lack of consumer “churn” they could not meet the deadline. Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, U.S. Cellular and Alltel -- carriers that have embraced a handset-based E-911 solution -- are affected. David Nace, counsel to RCA, said the lack of Commission action creates uncertainty for RCA members. “We're disappointed that the Commission has not viewed [action on the carriers’ joint petition] as a reasonable way to deal with the deadline that could not be met by carriers for various reasons,” Nace said: “The Commission has chosen instead to act on individual requests. We thought that they could have dealt with a large number of common problems by acting in the way we suggested. It would have given carriers the time needed to meet the performance threshold.”