Ohio Incumbents Fight Intrado Effort to Be an ‘E-911 CLEC’
Ohio’s largest incumbent local exchange carriers and Intrado, a major national enhanced 911 provider, have locked horns over whether Intrado can be authorized as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC). At issue is the fact that Intrado provides only next-generation E-911 services to a selected class of customers and doesn’t offer common-carrier dial tone to the general public. Ohio regulators said the clash “raises unique regulatory issues” that merit hearings, which are expected to open early in 2008.
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In November Intrado asked the Ohio Public Utilities Commission for a CLEC certificate. Its goal is to negotiate interconnection with existing E-911 networks provided by incumbent telcos, access unbundled network elements and obtain blocks of phone numbers. Intrado provides 911 operational and database management services to wireless carriers, VoIP providers, wireline carriers and state and local governments.
Intrado needs CLEC operating authority to provide its Intelligent Emergency Network, it said. The network is a secured, next-generation, IP-managed network Intrado says will provide more enhancements to E-911 service such as wireless text and picture messaging from emergency scenes and regional emergency communications management. Intrado would sell its services exclusively to entities authorized by state or municipal governments to operate 911 public safety answering points, it said.
AT&T, Cincinnati Bell and the Ohio Telephone Association oppose CLEC certification for Intrado (Case 07-1199-TP-ACE). They say it can’t qualify as a local exchange provider under Ohio rules because it doesn’t provide local dial tone to the general public. They also said Intrado can sell add-ons to existing E-911 networks as a “system service provider,” so it doesn’t need a CLEC certificate.
“The universe of entities entitled to the rights and privileges of a CLEC would expand exponentially” if Intrado qualified for a CLEC certificate, said the Ohio Telephone Association. Intrado can’t be deemed a competitive common carrier because it deals only with public safety agencies and provides no lines to the public for originating 911 calls, the telecoms said. They said Intrado relies entirely on other carriers’ networks for originating 911 traffic and provides no dial tone of its own to the public, so it can’t be a CLEC.
Intrado has been authorized as a CLEC in 35 states, it said, noting that it has used that status in California, Texas and Illinois to implement next-generation E-911 systems. In addition, it is negotiating local E-911 interconnection and access arrangements with incumbents in several other states, it said.
FCC definitions of phone exchange service don’t include a requirement that providers offer dial tone direct to the public, so a state requirement that basic exchange providers must offer dial tone would be preempted, Intrado said. And the FCC allows specialized carriers to be treated as common carriers for interconnection purposes if they provide the public with access to their specialized services through agreements with other entities, it claimed.
Intrado plans to offer 911 operators “competitive alternatives to their current legacy systems,” it said, tracing resistance to that to incumbents seeking “to protect their 911 monopoly,” and prevent “a major paradigm shift in 911 regulation.” Intrado’s CLEC certification petition is backed by the Ohio Association of Public Safety Communications Officials and Ohio Emergency Number Association, which said they would “object to any regulatory actions that would preclude efforts to move ahead with new 911 technologies.” The Hamilton County Department of Communications supported Intrado, saying 911 technology has been static under the state’s incumbent telcos. It criticized the incumbents for “attempting to delay the inevitable at the expense of the public’s safety and security.”