It’s Too Early for FCC to Impose Text-to-911 Rules, Verizon Says
With many questions remaining on such issues as when most public safety answering points (PSAPs) will be able to accept text messages to 911, it’s too early for the FCC to even consider imposing text-to-911 rules, Verizon said in reply comments filed at the FCC. The commission in January agreed to seek further comment on items such as whether to impose a text-to-911 mandate on interconnected over-the-top (OTT) text providers like Apple’s iMessage or Samsung’s ChatOn (CD Jan 31 p3).
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Wireless carriers, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials and the National Emergency Number Association signed off in December 2012 on a voluntary agreement on emergency texting (CD Dec 10/12 p1).
"Commenters uniformly acknowledge that any proposed regulatory mandate should consider PSAPs’ demand for text-to-911 capabilities,” Verizon said (http://bit.ly/1inpe5o). “The record also reflects that significant questions remain concerning PSAP demand for SMS-based text-to-911, due to funding concerns and ambivalence about whether to focus resources on interim SMS-based text- to-911 versus more robust IP-enabled text capabilities.” The FCC “cannot meaningfully address PSAP demand until an appropriate time after the Voluntary Agreement is fully in effect and text-to-911 becomes more widely available,” the carrier said.
Questions also remain about the “substantial and increasing number” of non-interconnected OTT services that would not be subject to the rules, Verizon said. “The record does not support the conclusion that regulation will bring about the public safety benefits of text-to-911 more effectively than voluntary efforts."
T-Mobile agreed with Verizon that the FCC should give the voluntary agreement a chance to work before imposing new regulations. “Because next generation technologies may render the current framework for policy discussion irrelevant, imposing obligations that exceed the parameters of the Voluntary Agreement creates a real risk for long-term implementation and innovation in 911 services,” T-Mobile said (http://bit.ly/1o7ffF2). New rules would require carriers to retrofit their networks, which “will only serve to slow the transition to the next generation networks that will natively support multiple modes of communication with public safety,” T-Mobile said.