Wireless 911 Routing Improves, but Improvement Still Needed, FCC Says
The FCC continues to look at the possibility of routing 911 calls to public safety answering points based on where the call originates, as location-based routing becomes more technologically feasible, but it’s “not there yet,” said David Furth, Public Safety…
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Bureau deputy chief, at a GPS Innovation Alliance briefing Wednesday. The agency began a notice of inquiry in 2018 (see 18032200027). Citing traffic fatalities in rural Nebraska where victims couldn't be found until days later, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., co-chair of the GPS Caucus, said GPS-linked 911 is a lifesaving synergy between two capabilities that speeds up response. In some jurisdictions, 80 percent of 911 calls annually come via smartphones, he said. Rep. Norma Torres, D-Calif., a member of the NextGen 911 Caucus, said most 911 dispatchers have a story about being unable to get location of a caller in an emergency. "The technology is getting there,” but geolocation needs federal support, said Torres, a former 911 dispatcher. She backed the 911 Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services (Saves) Act (see 1904050054) and hopes it gets Senate support. Stormy Martin, U.S. National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing director, said ongoing GPS modernization efforts like the Air Force's ground infrastructure upgrades and the next-generation GPS III satellites will lead to increased accuracy and availability of GPS signals, which in turn will mean better accuracy of 911 geolocation. The first GPS III satellite, launched in December, should be operational next year, and the second GPS III satellite is set for launch later this summer, he said. Martin said mapping software rather than the constellation is typically the source of GPS problems such as wrong locations.