Polaris Executive Pleased About Expected Action on '911' Issues

TR Daily
August 27th, 2010

The chief technology officer of Polaris Wireless, Inc., a location technology developer, says he is pleased that the FCC appears poised to move ahead on multiple fronts on "911" issues after several years of delays.

"It just seems like there's a lot of activity around 911 and it's . . . poised for some pretty big things to happen here," Marty Feuerstein told TRDaily.

The FCC is expected to act at its Sept. 23 meeting on a long-awaited enhanced 911 (E911) location-accuracy order. Also, following up on recommendations of the national broadband plan (NBP), the FCC has said it plans to adopt by the end of next month a further notice of proposed rulemaking on next-generation 911 (NG-911) location-accuracy issues; that item is expected to be on the Sept. 23 agenda as a companion to the E911 item. The FCC then plans to follow up with a notice of inquiry in the fourth quarter on broader NG-911 matters.

Mr. Feuerstein noted that a number of 911 issues have been pending at the Commission since 2007, including the adoption of a unified location-accuracy standard and efforts to look for ways to improve indoor accuracy.

The FCC tentatively concluded in an NPRM that year that it should adopt a single, technology-neutral location-accuracy standard to replace the current network- and handset-based requirements (TRDaily, May 31, 2007). The FCC also said then that it would conduct studies on (1) improving in-building location accuracy, and (2) the use of hybrid technologies.

However, its location-accuracy rules got bogged down after a 2007 order approving measurement at the public safety answering point (PSAP) level was challenged in court and the Commission asked the court to vacate and remand the order in the wake of a decision by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International and the National Emergency Number Association to modify their position on location-accuracy testing (TRDaily, Aug. 1, 2008). The groups now favor measurement at the county level, a position endorsed by major carriers.

Mr. Feuerstein said that the location-accuracy order had appeared to be close to circulation to FCC Commissioners recently, but he said the concerns of some rural providers seem to have delayed action. He noted that representatives of rural carriers have urged the FCC to ensure that rural providers are able to obtain waivers of the new rules, saying many won't be able to comply with them. Some have also suggested that the Commission address these rural technical obstacles upfront rather than deal with them through individual waivers.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Polaris markets a software-based location product that can either be used by network-based providers or as a hybrid solution. Over the long-term, Mr. Feuerstein said the Commission should adopt a unified hybrid location-accuracy standard regardless of how PSAPs receive information. He said one standard will assist PSAPs, particularly with the deployment of NG-911, which will entail PSAPs receiving text messages, e-mails, and even video in addition to voice calls, including through voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) technologies. "The performance ought to be consistent across all those different ways," he added.

While there are a number of issues the government must address related to the deployment of 911 services, including funding and legal issues, Mr. Feuerstein said that "some of the technology things can be . . . fit into rules and deployed . . . fairly quickly." Regarding indoor coverage, for example, he said, "It's an area where the technology has been there for a good amount of time."

He expressed optimism that the NBP's recommendations related to the deployment of NG-911 services will help spur action. "The hope certainly is [that] the initiatives in there . . . certainly can be a catalyst to kind of drive some of these next-generation 911 requirements, and even some of the more shorter-term things like indoor accuracy," he said.

The NBP recommended several steps to help realize the deployment of nationwide NG-911. For example, it suggested that Congress consider "enacting a federal regulatory framework" for NG-911, and it said the Commission "should address IP-based communications devices, applications and services."

The NBP also said Congress should appropriate funding so the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has worked on such issues, can analyze the cost to deploy a next-generation system on a nationwide basis. It said that NHTSA should recommend public funding for NG-911 deployment.

Mr. Feuerstein said that due to government E911 deployment mandates in the 1990s, the U.S. has led the world in location technology and the creation of commercial location-based offerings, adding that "the broadband initiative can be another sort of impetus to go to the next generation of 911 and maintain the leadership, competitiveness, innovation - everything that went into the initial 911 systems." - Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

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