Some wireless companies have asked the Federal Communications Commission to delay the deadline - which was set for Dec. 31, 2005 - for requiring 95% of their customers to have E911-compliant phones, the Wall Street Journal reports.
To comply with the FCC's E911 compliance rule, some wireless companies such as Cingular and T-Mobile used a network-based approach that enables them to determine the customer's location and send it to the 911 call center. These carriers have been able to meet the FCC deadline. However, it has been more difficult for companies that chose a phone-based solution, which uses embedded GPS technology to identify the caller's location, the Journal reports.
Verizon Wireless, Qwest Communications International, Alltel, and Sprint Nextel and its Nextel Partners affiliate have asked the FCC for more time because of customers' resistance to upgrade to newer phones. More than seven million customers have older cell phones that are not E911 compliant. Some customers do not want to spend the money on a digital phone with GPS technology while others simply like their current phones and do not want to learn to use a new one, the Journal reports. In addition, some customers live in areas without reliable digital service.
If a caller does use a GPS-equipped phone, only about 43% of the country's emergency dispatch call centers, which cover about two-thirds of the population, are able to receive the digital information identifying the caller's location, according to the National Emergency Number Association. Federal regulators have urged states to upgrade equipment to be able to receive digital information, but they do not have the authority to mandate it, and many communities say they do not have the necessary funding, the Journal reports.
Voice over Internet Protocol companies last May were given six months to provide 911 services to all customers, and the companies were banned from accepting new customers in areas where they could not provide 911 service.
Some wireless companies have asked for up to two years to comply with the FCC ruling, but they are unlikely to receive more than a few months given the "FCC's hard-line approach toward Internet phone companies," the Journal reports. The ruling currently is on hold while the FCC makes a decision. An FCC spokesperson declined to comment on the issue because it still is under review, the Journal reports (Schatz, Wall Street Journal, 1/6).