Congress won’t directly intervene on wireless 911 accuracy problems...
Congress won’t directly intervene on wireless 911 accuracy problems as long as the FCC stays on point, a former FCC bureau chief predicted in an interview. The Find Me 911 Coalition educated Hill staffers about wireless 911 accuracy problems during…
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a briefing Monday in B-338 Rayburn. “We're talking about millions and millions of wireless 911 calls that are not having the location delivered to the 911 centers,” former FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett told us. He’s co-chair of Venable’s telecom group and represented the coalition during the briefing. The coalition includes several public safety organizations, including the U.S. First Responders Association, the Denise Amber Lee Foundation, the International Union of Police Association, AFL-CIO and others. He was joined by officials from the National Emergency Number Association, including Danita Crombach, president of its California chapter, and Director-Government Affairs Trey Forgety and President Brian Fontes as well as Dorothy Spears-Dean, an officer with the National Association of State 911 Administrators. The event focused on a recent CalNENA report, which showcased 911 location accuracy problems affecting cellphone users (CD Aug 14 p4), Barnett said. Multiple carriers showed drops in phase-II location information, with AT&T showcasing a drop from 92 percent in January 2008 to 31 percent in December 2012, according to CalNENA. The August report prompted letters to the FCC from both the House and the Senate this month (CD Sept 16 p16). “We need indoor requirements,” Barnett said, describing big interest among Hill staffers in what he characterized as a “pretty much sold-out briefing.” The coalition did not have to directly prompt the letter-writing, he said, saying House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., “lit off on this,” as did the office of Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., another letter author. The briefing’s message focused on the FCC working with the carriers as well as taking up the problem in a public safety workshop set for Oct. 2, he said. “As long as [the FCC’s attention is] going along, I don’t think the House or the Senate will get involved,” he said, despite acknowledging the bipartisan support for such a public safety issue and the possibility of hearings and additional congressional focus. Indoor location technologies such as NextNav did come up during the briefing, Barnettt added. Venable represents TruePosition, a company engaged in that technology, but the Find Me 911 Coalition is not pushing for any particular requirements linked to one technology, he said.