NYPD Says FCC Should Tighten E-911 Location Measurement Rules
The New York Police Department wants wireless carriers’ success locating E-911 calls measure by public safety answering point (PSAP), not through statewide averaging as carriers prefer, the department told the FCC. The department cited public safety concerns that the agency usually gives significant weight.
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“We base our view on our own experience and observations in the real world performance of the wireless carriers in New York City, not on theory, philosophy or hypothetical situations,” the police department said. “It is imperative that we know the accuracy of the information provided to our dispatchers, who utilize this information to send emergency responders to potentially dangerous incidents. Location accuracy testing on the PSAP level is the only meaningful, manageable way such information can be obtained.”
The department cited woes implementing E-911 phase II service in 2004, when it was able to get PSAP-specific information from only one carrier. “All the other carriers simply provided a statement that their technology had been found to be adequate, and that they only had to comply on a national footprint basis,” the department said. “Without PSAP empirical testing, we do not believe we would have any reliable way of measuring the accuracy of Phase II data that the City of New York receives from the wireless carriers.” The department said it has a responsibility to assess the quality of service that carriers provide in the city.
Comments were due Thursday at the FCC on a rulemaking notice that proposes to measure carrier performance by PSAP, as sought by the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials.
Among other early filers, Qualcomm said PSAP-based measurements inevitably would cause confusion as some carriers fail the tests. “A PSAP-by-PSAP requirement would fail to recognize the capabilities of, and limitations inherent in, the currently deployed position location technology,” the company said. Qualcomm said PSAPs vary so much in size and places served that PSAP-based measurement would be “inherently arbitrary.”