BellSouth clarified a letter sent last week to the FCC asking if ...

FCC announced it would vote at its agenda meeting Thurs. on mandating VoIP-provided E-911. The FCC is expected to require Vonage and other VoIP providers to offer E-911 in 120 days, both to “fixed” customers who keep phones in one place and those who move phones around, such as from home to office to hotels, also called nomadic use. BellSouth’s letter said offering E-911 to fixed customers doesn’t appear to be a problem but “it is unrealistic to expect that [E-911] functionality will be fully implemented for nomadic VoIP purposes by the end of this year.” In a follow-up letter May 16, BellSouth said it was commenting on the timing of a more sophisticated nomadic solution the industry is developing through the National Emergency Number Assn. However, the May 16 letter said, interim solutions would let VoIP providers offer E-911 for nomadic use “and BellSouth did not mean to suggest otherwise.” The company said one such solution gives VoIP providers access to ILEC selective routers and the Automatic Location Identification (ALI) databases. BellSouth said this would offer the same access as wireless carriers use: “The only difference is that changes may need to be made to the interface to the ALI database to allow for updating of location information for nomadic use.” The follow-up letter also revealed Commission staff had sought the clarification. Neither the FCC nor BellSouth would comment on the FCC request but indicated the Commission wanted to avoid confusion over whether a nomadic solution was possible within the 120 days specified in the proposed FCC order. Although the FCC order is expected to be aimed at VoIP providers, Bell companies are involved because E-911 access requires use of their networks.