The wireless E911 advantage: Carriers don't tout Phase I compliance, but Phase II may be a different story

With the FCC's April 1 deadline for wireless enhanced 911 Phase I compliance creeping closer, only a few markets have implemented solutions. "It's unfortunate that because of confusion in the market over what technology to use, we'll hit the April 1 date and very few people will have service," said David Hose, president and founder of SignalSoft.

Carriers that will meet Phase I requirements by April 1 or later may not want to advertise to customers that they now can offer public safety officials a 10-digit callback number and the location of the cell site that received the 911 call.

Of the approximately 85% of mobile phone users who say they bought their phones for safety reasons, few may realize that 911 service from a mobile phone isn't the same as from a landline, said John Sims, chief operating officer for SCC Communications Corp.

Phase I is an improvement, but it isn't much to brag about.

However, Phase II, which requires carriers to pinpoint callers within 125 meters, holds more promise for safety and other reasons. "Phase II will be a big competitive advantage for carriers," Sims said.

Reuven Carlyle, vice president of external affairs for Xypoint, agreed. "There is no question that this is one of the major service differentiations that is coming on-line in the next couple of years," he said.

Carriers will likely advertise the benefits of Phase II when they comply with the requirements. In addition, knowing the location of a caller opens the door to a slew of new applications, including location-sensitive billing, concierge services and vehicle tracking.

SignalSoft officials envision services that will allow users to dial 411 for the closest fast food restaurants, hotels with vacancies or banking machines that don't charge for transactions. But reaching the point where operators can offer these services may be an uphill battle.

While some carriers hopped on the Phase I bandwagon early, opting for a protocol conversion solution that cannot be upgraded to Phase II, others have chosen flexible solutions.

Companies such as SignalSoft, Xypoint and SCC offer network-based software, routing and database management components of solutions that use SS7 and are Phase II-ready. The missing piece now to achieve Phase II requirements is location technology, such as the time-difference-of-arrival offering by TruePosition, a frontrunner in the location technology arena. Even after location-finding solutions are proved, they must be integrated with the network.

Some operators are looking into location services now, although they aren't obligated by the FCC to deliver Phase II until 2001. "Suppliers are aggressively courting carriers to get location-based applications up and running," Carlyle said.

Some carriers have responded. "We absolutely will comply before the 2001 date," said Ira Gorelick, group manager of strategic initiatives for GTE Wireless. Sims also has noticed carrier interest. "Carriers have indicated a willingness to move to Phase II more quickly than 2001," he said.

Other carriers may not be so eager to embark on the costly and complicated endeavor toward Phase II. "My impression is they are in no rush to do this," said Stephan Virostek, director of messaging and dispatch for The Strategis Group.

Operators are waiting for costs to drop and more solutions to emerge. "The cost hasn't really gotten to a point on the curve that will drive large-scale implementation," Carlyle said.

GTE Wireless hopes the technology will progress. "In our mind, there is not a clear answer for what is the best Phase II technology," Gorelick said. Currently, no location technology exists for CDMA networks, and no solution serves both analog and digital networks, according to Virostek.

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