E911 headaches

Operators doubt they can meet FCC deadline Wireless operators are required to deploy Phase II of enhanced 911 services next year, but all fear they may not meet the accuracy requirements the FCC has mandated for the services.

Carriers recently filed their location technology choices with the FCC but reserve the right to change their mind before they are required to deploy the technology by Oct. 1, 2001. Operators can choose technology that is handset-based, network-based or a hybrid of the two.

"We don't believe any of these technologies can meet the accuracy requirements," said Andrew Clegg, senior manager of strategic technology for Cingular Wireless. "They are getting closer, and we've been encouraged by the speed of improvements that are occurring. But we still aren't there yet."

Cingular has chosen to deploy handset-based technology within its GSM footprint and network-based technology in its TDMA properties, primarily because of the availability of equipment. Network-based solutions use what is known as triangulation technology, while handset-based solutions require GPS chips. The FCC requires carriers using handset-based solutions to pinpoint a caller within 50 meters 57% of the time and within 150 meters 97% of the time. Network-based technology must locate a caller within 100 meters 67% of the time and within 300 meters 90% of the time.

Carriers have complained about the stringent timeline for deployment of these complex and expensive technologies. Earlier this year, they convinced the FCC to give them more time to devise a technology choice. Still, 10 carriers said they couldn't make a choice. AT&T Wireless and others said they were still testing too many technologies to narrow the choices. But the majority of carriers chose handset-based technology, followed by network-based solutions and hybrid solutions.

VoiceStream Wireless opted for a different handset-based solution, one based on enhanced observed time difference of arrival rather than GPS technology. Because the technology will take longer to develop, the FCC granted VoiceStream a waiver in September, allowing the carrier to develop a network solution for E911 Phase I before Dec. 31, 2001, and a Phase II handset solution before March 31, 2002. VoiceStream will sell only handsets with E911 capability before the FCC's deadline for such action, which falls on Dec. 31, 2002.

Nextel Communications, which chose a handset-based technology based on GPS, also is seeking a waiver and a year-long extension. It indicated that it cannot make the accuracy requirements in time for the FCC's Oct. 1 deadline. Instead, it wants permission to deploy the technology Oct. 1, 2002. But it said it would meet the FCC's requirement that calls for 95% of all existing handsets to have location capabilities by 2005.

Today, carriers are in the process of implementing Phase I of the FCC's E911 mandate. Phase I is the fallback requirement to Phase II service, which involves carriers mapping out its service areas by cell site and public safety answering point (PSAP) locations.

Through a database, carriers identify the PSAP and route the 911 calls based on the cell site where the call originates. Local governments must issue the PSAPs, and carriers have six months to answer the requests. AT&T Wireless notes it has seen low demand from PSAPs. About 10% of its customers will have Phase I capability by the end of the year, the carrier said.

All carriers eventually will have to implement a hybrid type of solution, because no single technology will be able to meet the FCC's accuracy requirements, said Frank Viquez, wireless analyst for Allied Business Intelligence. Many carriers are still testing solutions from a variety of vendors.

"Each one has an advantage," he said. "But I don't see a single solution happening. Even if Sprint PCS goes with GPS handsets, they still need a network backup or augmentation. One technology is not enough to deliver the kind of levels needed to perform out there."

And it will be an expensive and time-consuming process. Cingular estimates that under a worst-case scenario the carrier could spend more than $1 billion to deploy location technology over a five-year time frame.

To recoup the costs, location technology vendors advocate that carriers deploy commercial services. With a touch of a button, customers can get location-sensitive weather services or targeted coupons from retailers as they walk by their stores. Location-based m-commerce could rake in billions of revenues in five years, according to analysts. But Cingular said it doesn't see evidence of such a market.

"We're not necessarily convinced that there is much demand for commercial services," Clegg said. "Our priority at this point is just the E911 application. We do plan to offer commercial services, but for the most part, it is an attempt to recover some of the costs that we have to lay out for E911."

Viquez believes most carriers will make their money back because the cost of E911 is an incentive. "E911 is the catalyst," he said. "All are trying to form partnerships with ASPs and platform providers. It's a matter of being able to offer a bundled product in a differentiated manner."