WASHINGTON-The wireless industry, breaking with the public-safety community, last week urged the Federal Communications Commission to scrap efforts to improve technical capabilities of 911-only mobile phones donated to charitable organizations and instead recommended an educational campaign to tackle the problem of phones without call-back features.
“Rather than pursue a futile search for technical solutions that are incapable of solving the call-back problem raised by the public-safety entities, CTIA urges the commission to take the lead in working with the public-safety entities to address this issue through education and training,” the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association told the FCC last week.
Public-safety and consumer advocates, however, are not willing to concede that point to the industry.
“The public-safety entities believe that once wireless E911 Phase I service has been implemented, new technical solutions and/or education or training programs may provide better emergency services to non-service-initialized wireless 911 calls,” stated the Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications, Texas Emergency Communication Districts, the National Emergency Number Association, the Association of Public-Safety Communications-International and the National Association of State 911 Administrators.
In 1997, the FCC mandated that mobile phones not affiliated with service providers-for whatever reason-retain the capability to connect with public safety answering points, or PSAPs. Some wireline carriers, such as Bell Atlantic Corp., offer the same service to customers.
But donation of 911-only phones to charitable groups and the sale of such devices are creating problems for emergency dispatchers because the phones lack call-back capability.
Call-back capability is required under FCC Phase I rules. In coming years, under 911 Phase II, carriers must be able to provide the general location of subscribers who dial 911.
One technical solution offered by the public-safety group would include a mechanism-perhaps by transmitting a series of numbers or letters-to alert 911 dispatch operators that a non-initialized wireless call is being received. That way, emergency dispatchers would give priority to identifying the location of 911 callers.
Other options suggested by the public-safety coalition included assigning a temporary call-back telephone number and transmitting an emergency service routing key that survives long enough to provide some unique data about the mobile phone.
The Wireless Consumers Alliance said additional “safety features can be incorporated with minimal expense or effort.”
A big question is that hard data is lacking on the technical viability of enabling 911 phones with call-back and the economic impact of doing so is unclear. Another problem is that equipment features and service areas for non-service-initialized phones vary.
WCA said it believes the FCC should establish uniform regulatory guidelines for non-service-initialized mobile phones. “We agree with the public-safety entities that it is time to consider the impact of the distribution of refurbished wireless phones to at-risk individuals who will rely on such phones for help in an emergency,” said Carl Hilliard, head of WCA.
The industry’s Call to Protect program, whereby mobile phones are donated to battered women, avoids the call-back problem because those phones are activated on wireless networks and each has a unique telephone number.
But mobile phones donated by other groups are not service initialized. Neither are those sold by SecureAlert L.L.C. and other firms that market 911-only mobile phones.
SecureAlert said it does not want the FCC to repeal the universal wireless 911 access rule. As for call-back capability, SecureAlert sent conflicting signals to the FCC.
On the one hand, SecureAlert said it supports industry and government efforts to extend call-back capability to all wireless phones. But, later in its filing, the firm said a call-back mandate could hurt its business.
“If call-back capability is required for all handsets, the availability of low-cost personal safety devices, like the Mobile911 handset, will be threatened and a segment of the population will not have the ability to own a wireless 911 safety device,” SecureAlert stated.
Rob Cohen, vice president of government relations for SCC Communications Corp., said that with phones and service plans becoming more affordable to the masses, people would be better off simply signing up with wireless carriers.
On a related front, the telecommunications industry last week largely told the FCC that its proposed deadline for wireless phones to be able to connect text telephone 911 calls is too soon because digital technical solutions have not been fully developed and it is unlikely they will be ready by the Dec. 31, 2001, deadline.
Washington reporter Heather Forsgren Weaver contributed to this report.
