Xypoint seeks role in cellular 911 arena

A new company headed by a former AT&T Wireless Services executive is hoping its enhanced 911 solution will attract cellular network operators seeking a low-maintenance way to comply with a recent Federal Communications Commission mandate.

Seattle-based Xypoint Corp. has developed a system that ports location and customer information to public service access points (PSAPs), the dispatch centers for emergency service providers (see diagram on page 11). Cellular operators using the system still must implement technology in their base stations that provides accurate location and phone number information, but the Xypoint system promises to relieve carriers of having to tailor that data to the specifications of emergency operators.

"We take information already on the cellular network and deliver it to the emergency dispatchers in the format they need," said Kenneth Arneson, president and chief executive officer of Xypoint. Arneson was formerly vice president of business development at the messaging division of AT&T Wireless.

One wireless analyst said the system could prove effective for cellular carriers if it translates to long-term buildout savings.

"It acts as a gateway between the switch and the 911 center," said Spencer Stern, a consultant at OmniTech Consulting Group. "If this system can ease the burden [on cellular carriers] and is cheaper than adding any additional infrastructure, it's a good thing."

The FCC recently issued a three-phase order on enhanced 911. The first phase states that within 18 months of the registration of the ruling, cellular carriers must be able to provide emergency dispatchers with the location of the base station or cell site handling a 911 call and information that allows PSAP operators to call back if the call is dropped.

To comply with the second phase, which mandates compliance within five years, cellular operators must be able to provide a 911 caller's latitude and longitude within 125 meters.

The FCC ruling says nothing about the technological method by which cellular carriers must comply with the ruling, nor does it comment on outsourcing the process to other companies.

Xypoint, therefore, hopes to establish a nationwide presence with at least one centralized data center that connects to every emergency dispatch group in the U.S. From there, the company would be capable of selling its application to every cellular operator in the country, Arneson said.

"We just want to be the last mile," he said. "It's a make-vs.-buy question for [cellular carriers]."

But some in the industry dispute the need for a designated applications provider performing that function. One source familiar with Xypoint who requested anonymity doesn't see the need for someone in the middle and said cellular providers are capable of complying with the FCC regulation on their own.

"They think people aren't going to devote the time and resources to develop this," the source said. "It's a hard sell, from what I can see."

Still, Xypoint is marketing its solution heavily to cellular operators and getting good feedback, Arneson said.

"We're just getting started, but the response has been tremendous," he said. The company has briefed nearly all cellular carriers and plans to select beta test customers soon, he said.