Carriers updates E-911 waivers at 11th hour

As the FCC’s (www.fcc.gov) Oct. 1 date for E-911 Phase II compliance approaches, most wireless carriers have submitted waiver requests, asking the commission for relief from that deadline. Waiver filings from small carriers in particular have flooded the FCC this week. Some carriers have filed updates to their original Phase II plans or made location technology-related announcements.

AT&T Wireless

In a filing dated Sept. 17, AT&T Wireless (www.attws.com) informed the FCC of a change in the carrier’s Phase II plan for its TDMA network. AT&T had previously stated that it would implement a Mobile-Assisted Network Location System (MNLS) for its TDMA footprint. The carrier still believes MNLS is the best solution for TDMA, but the public safety community feels otherwise.

“Despite the substantial evidence AWS has submitted regarding the benefits of MNLS, the public safety community remains opposed to its use,” the filing reads. “Because AWS does not believe that its efforts to provide E-911 service to the public can succeed without support of the public safety community, it is pursuing an alternative TDMA solution.”

AT&T is considering location technologies from Grayson Wireless (www.grayson.com) and TruePosition (www.trueposition.com) and believes it will reach a contractual agreement with one of the vendors within a month. Both vendors’ location solutions use network-based technology.

A contract with either company would call for it to implement Phase II technology beginning Nov. 1 and ending no later than Dec. 31, 2002, the filing states. AT&T believes it has approximately 1,600 cell sites in the jurisdictions of public safety answering points (PSAPs) that have submitted valid requests for Phase II service. That schedule, though, may hit some bumps in the road.

“We reiterate that the deployment of any network overlay solution is likely to be subject to the construction and zoning delays associated with the addition of any new RF equipment to a wireless network,” the filing states.

After 2002, the carrier expects it will be able to deploy Phase II technology within six months of a valid request.

AT&T appears convinced that location technologies recently have improved in accuracy. Network-based solutions require accuracy of 100 meters for 67% of calls and 300 meters for 95% of calls. Handset-based solutions require accuracy of 50 meters for 67% of calls and 150 meters for 95% of calls.

“Both TruePosition and Grayson have represented to AWS that the current versions of their location solutions will meet the FCC’s accuracy requirements if deployed on AWS’ TDMA network,” the filing reads. However, “AWS notes that in its previous trials, both TruePosition’s and Grayson’s technologies failed to meet the commission’s accuracy requirements for network-based technologies.”

Cingular

The nation’s second largest carrier, announced it would use TruePosition’s time difference of arrival (TDOA) network-based location technology. The agreement is the first of its kind between a carrier and a location-technology vendor. With regard to the extent of the deployment, neither company is saying much. The announcement only states that TruePosition’s technology “in portions of Cingular’s network.”

In Cingular’s (www.cingular.com) original waiver request, dated July 6, the carrier proposed to deploy a switch-based technology for its TDMA networks, a standard the carrier stated it is migrating away from. An August 31 filing updates that waiver request, asking the commission for permission to deploy TruePosition’s technology for its TDMA and AMPS networks.

“The vendor has guaranteed that its solution will meet the FCC’s accuracy requirements,” the filing states. “TruePosition also has committed to deploying its solution on 2,000 of Cingular’s TDMA/AMPS cell sites in 2002.”

Qwest Wireless

A September 17 filing from Qwest Wireless (www.qwestwireless.com) revises the carrier’s deployment schedule based on delays from Lucent (www.lucent.com). The filing states that Lucent will be unable to provide necessary Phase II hardware and software upgrades by the vendor’s previously committed date of September 20. Because the MSC upgrades will not be available until at least Nov. 9, Qwest wants to push it’s Phase II start-date back from Dec. 31, 2001 to March 31, 2002. The carrier also expects it will not be able to reach 25% penetration of Phase II-capable handsets until June 30, 2002, a 3-month delay.