U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)

After emotional testimony from victims of VoIP- related 911 glitches, the FCC Thurs. ordered VoIP providers to give customers full E-911 service within 120 days. E-911, or enhanced 911, means a 911 caller’s location is transmitted and can be viewed by emergency dispatchers on a screen.

Despite major challenges, wireless manufacturers expect to meet the FCC’s Sept. 16 deadline for having 2 hearing aid compatibility (HAC) compliant products, officials said. Speaking for 36 HAC Incubator industry members, including vendors and carriers, ATIS said several HAC-compliant handsets already are available and waiting to be tested. “There’s been substantial work done in the last few months and we consistently get proper ratings,” an ATIS spokeswoman said: “But there are still technical issues that have to be addressed.”

Rep. Gordon (D-Tenn.) introduced a bill Wed. to mandate E-911 access for VoIP providers, a day before the FCC is expected to issue an order requiring providers to give customers E-911 service (CD May 18 p5). Gordon’s bill has bipartisan support and a companion version in the Senate.

At the swearing-in ceremony of new U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Portman, President Bush announced three trade priorities for the months ahead: passing the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA); encouraging the Doha Development Agenda being pursued by the World Trade Organization (WTO); and ensuring that those countries who sign trade agreements (e.g., China) live up to their terms. (White House press release, dated 05/17/05, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050517-3.html)

BellSouth clarified a letter sent last week to the FCC asking if VoIP providers could make E-911 service available to their “nomadic” users by year’s end (CD May 16 p4). BellSouth’s letter was sent May 12, shortly before the 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.

VoIP provider 8x8 said the E-911 service it offers subscribers to its Packet8 service is now available in more than 2,000 rate centers in 43 states. The service, developed with help from the National Emergency Number Assn., “mirrors that of legacy landline phone service providers,” 8x8 said. It automatically routes calls to emergency personnel, not to administrative telephone numbers at the dispatch centers, 8x8 said. “It is important for consumers to know that VoIP is not a commodity and that different VoIP service providers provide significantly different features and services,” said 8x8 CEO Bryan Martin.

An amended FCC report to Congress on deployment of E911 Phase II services by Tier III service providers (CD April 7 p6) contains “2 factual statements” that “understate and reflect poorly on the efforts made by Tier III carriers to deploy E911 Phase II service in a timely manner,” Rural Cellular Assn. (RCA) told the Commission in an ex parte Wed. First, RCA said, there are only about 166 separately owned Tier III service providers, not 390, as the Commission stated. “We assume the [FCC’s] source for the number of Tier III licensees was probably the Commission’s Universal Licensing System,” which “contains the names of many companies that are closely affiliated with one another,” RCA said: “There are a comparatively small number of separately owned Tier III carriers providing service in the United States and that number continues to decrease as consolidation in the industry continues.” The Commission’s report also said only 10 Tier III licensees are “providing Phase II service to at least one PSAP.” But RCA said “no fewer than 24” Tier III carriers provide Phase II data used by PSAPs to locate E911 callers. “That is a significantly different number in view of information reported by the National Emergency Number Association that only about 40% of PSAPs nationwide are capable of receiving Phase II data,” RCA said. That percentage is “considerably lower in rural areas, where most Tier III carriers operate,” it said. RCA also said it expects more waiver requests to be filed by rural wireless service providers, which can’t meet a deadline for deployment of Phase II services. “When a good faith and commercially reasonable effort has been made by the carrier,” the FCC should grant the requested relief, RCA said.

The World Customs Organization (WCO) has issued information on a June 27, 2005 - July 1, 2005 training workshop designed to help participants develop consultancy skills using the WCO Customs Capacity Building Diagnostic Framework. The workshop, to be held in Brussels, is designed to develop a pool of consultants capable of constructively using this diagnostic framework to conduct strategic analyses within Customs administrations that will lead to credible capacity building projects. More information is available at http://learning.wcoomd.org.

Only govt., academia and industry teamwork will produce the robust 21st Century cyberinfranscructure (CI) system that’s needed, National Science Foundation Dir. Arden Bement told the Internet2 spring meeting Tues. Collaboration and contemplation are the keys to CI, said Bement, casting the achievement as one of the century’s key investments for science and engineering: “It is as critical as the electrical grid, the interstate highway system and other traditional infrastructures.”