E-911 Still Spinning Wheels

Thirteen months after the FCC's deadline to make E-911 work, only 7% of the country has met Phase I. The necessary wireless location technology has been developed and is being tested, but still it isn't being deployed.

Now in Phase II, E-911 solution testing continues. The results so far have been good. Virtually every location technology has met the FCC's Phase II accuracy requirement of 125 feet 67% of the time. Most have exceeded it.

In Washington, AirTouch, GTE Wireless and Nextel Communications tested Integrated Data Communications' (IDC) handset-based technology. Of the more than 4,800 calls placed in a 6-month period, locations were pinpointed 100% of the time. Fifty percent of the calls were located to within 70 feet or less, and more than 30% to within a 40-foot radius.

In Tampa, SnapTrack combined forces with the CDMA Development Group's Location Technology Team carrier members AirTouch Communications, Ameritech Cellular, Bell Mobility, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications, Sprint PCS and US West Wireless for end-to-end E-911 field trials that resulted in 100% accuracy in call location. Typical conditions lent an accuracy rate of 100% within 25 meters; in optimal conditions, 100% accuracy was maintained within 5 meters. Chipset manufacturers Texas Instruments and VLSI Technology, and wireless phone manufacturers Denso, Fujitsu, Hyundai, LGIC, Motorola and Samsung lent their expertise to the trials using SnapTrack's enhanced GPS technology.

SnapTrack also has tested its location technology in Denver, San Francisco, Washington, and Japan.

"Our San Francisco testing was unique in that we actually tested the technology underground," said Ellen Kirk, SnapTrack vice president of marketing and strategic planning.

With the increasing availability of location technology and the high level of success in testing, carriers still are dragging their heels in implementing the required E-911 systems.

The question still remains whether the FCC will allow handset-based automatic location information technology such as that offered by IDC and SnapTrack to satisfy Phase II. After two years of argument from the public-safety community and the wireless industry, the FCC still is considering the patented "strongest-signal" or "adequate-signal" technology for E-911 calling. The technology makes a control channel available when 911 is dialed, but not necessarily a voice channel. The fact that strongest-signal technology applies to analog phones only, and that handset manufacturers would be required to purchase a license from the patent holder, Robert Zicker, has sparked heated debate.

"It's all about money," said Chris Pearson, UWCC vice president of marketing. "Even though carriers and vendors may take more of a world view in terms of humanitarian issues like customer safety, they still have to look at the price of providing the service."

George Heinrichs, SCC Communications president, addressed this concern in the company's first-quarter report, which showed that SCC experienced growth in its wireline product lines, but not enough to offset the drop in revenue on the wireless side.

"Industrywide, the speed of activation for wireless 911 service has continued to be slow," Heinrichs said.

Testing will continue as the 2001 FCC deadline for Phase II inches nearer, and carriers must decide which location technology offers the most reliable service at the most cost-efficient price.

"You (carriers) have to decide if you want yesterday's technology tomorrow, or tomorrow's technology today," Kirk said.