Several additional wireless carriers have submitted indoor 911 location accuracy waiver petitions. June 2 was the deadline for wireless carriers to file certifications of compliance with the FCC’s initial indoor 911 location accuracy benchmark. In its request in PS docket 07-114, ATN International, Inc., requested “an extension of time until January 1, 2018 within which to come into compliance with respect to its CDMA networks that are used to serve ATN subscribers, and requests a five-year waiver, through and including April 3, 2022, with respect to UMTS networks that it uses to serve incoming GSM and UMTS roamers.” It cited the technical challenges it faces in deploying 911 location accuracy services in St Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in Pima County, Ariz.
Flat Wireless LLC said, “As a small regional provider of wireless telecommunications services operating in rural areas of the western United States, Flat Wireless endures significant financial burdens in implementing and maintaining an indoor 911 call location service across its entire network, which has rendered it unable to comply with certain reporting requirements for the deployment of such services. Moreover, Flat Wireless has not received a request to date from any Public Safety Answering Points (‘PSAPs’) in its service area for its indoor 911 call location data.
Accordingly, Flat Wireless requests a retroactive waiver of the February 3, 2017 initial live 911 call data reporting deadline as required by Section 20.18(i)(3)(ii) of the Commission’s Rules.”
Tampnet Inc., noted that the FCC recently “approved Tampnet’s acquisition of certain wireless licenses and related authorizations necessary to deploy a 4G network in the Gulf of Mexico. As the Commission recognized in its order approving the acquisition of those licenses, the Gulf is a ‘unique off-shore environment’ distinct from every other domestic market in the U.S., and providing wireless services in that market necessarily presents unique challenges. Indeed, the Gulf is not served by a single traditional public safety answering point, does not have ubiquitous cell site coverage, and is ‘populated’ almost exclusively by a workforce supporting the oil and gas exploration and production industry (and those industries serving the oil and gas industry).
“In this environment indoor location 911 data is neither necessary nor relevant,” Tampnet added. “Further, because of the lack of cell sites in the Gulf, there are simply not enough sites needed to triangulate a caller’s location. Accordingly, because the Gulf is a unique market that does not require indoor location data, or have the necessary network infrastructure facilities to develop such data, the Commission should waive the requirement that Tampnet certify its compliance with the Commission’s 911 indoor location accuracy requirements.” —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com