In 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required wireless carriers to deploy E9-1-1 in two phases, with Phase I (cell site and call back number) and Phase II (actual location).

THE NEED

9-1-1 calls are received by dedicated public safety professionals at Public Safety Answer Points (PSAPs). Most of the 9-1-1 calls from landline phones are "enhanced" (E9-1-1), automatically providing dispatchers with a caller's phone number and address. Unfortunately, call takers do not have this location information when they are speaking to wireless 9-1-1 callers. To make matters worse, a significant percentage of callers don't know their location. Providing emergency dispatchers with that information can often be the difference between life or death. The absence of E9-1-1 for wireless and voice over IP (VoIP) calls also costs public safety time and money.

COMCARE'S APPROACH

COMCARE's goal is to get as many wireless 9-1-1 callers covered by location technology as quickly as possible. Implementation of wireless E9-1-1 is operationally and politically complex. COMCARE is actively gathering key constituencies from the private and public sectors to work together to ensure the deployment of wireless E9-1-1. To do this, we are working to show industry that E9-1-1 is not a burden, but a business opportunity. Not only will E9-1-1 deployment save lives, but through the formation of public/private partnerships, there are numerous business opportunities.

FROM VISION TO REALITY

It has been years since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed the rules ordering wireless Enhanced 9-1-1, and since the first time Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) were allowed to request Phase II (exact location) services. Unfortunately, today only a fraction of wireless customers can be automatically located by a PSAP when they call 9-1-1 (Phase II).

Based on an analysis of data from the FCC and the Census Bureau, 1,608 PSAPs representing 42% of the US population are now prepared to receive Phase II E9-1-1 information – but not all the wireless carriers in those markets are providing the data on wireless 9-1-1 calls for all of their customers or roamers. Carriers are now catching up with the PSAP requests made in 2001 and 2002, but the pipeline for the future is not as promising. 968 PSAPs representing another 16% of the US population have formally requested Phase II service. 42% of the population is represented by 5,487 PSAPs which have yet to even request Phase II services from their wireless carriers.

Back to Top