Cybertelecom :: VoIP :: 911
www.cybertelecom.org/voip/911.htm
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
May 19, 2005 Mark Wigfield,
202-418-0253
Email:
mark.wigfield@xxxxxxx
Commission Requires Interconnected VoIP Providers to
Provide Enhanced 911 Service
Order Ensures VoIP Customers Have Access to Emergency
Services
Washington, D.C. – The Federal Communications
Commission today took steps to protect consumers by
requiring that certain providers of voice over
Internet protocol (VoIP) phone service supply enhanced
911 (E911) emergency calling capabilities to their
customers as a mandatory feature of the service.
The IP-enabled services marketplace is the latest new
frontier of our nation’s communications landscape, and
the Commission is committed to allowing IP-enabled
services to evolve without undue regulation. But E911
service is critical to our nation’s ability to respond
to a host of crises. The Commission hopes to minimize
the likelihood of situations like recent incidents in
which users of interconnected VoIP dialed 911 but were
not able to reach emergency operators. Today’s Order
represents a balanced approach that takes into
consideration the expectations of consumers, the need
to strengthen Americans’ ability to access public
safety in times of crisis, and the needs of entities
offering these innovative services.
The Order places obligations on interconnected VoIP
service providers that are similar to traditional
telephone providers in that they enable customers to
receive calls from and terminate calls to the public
switched telephone network (PSTN). It does not place
obligations on other IP-based service providers, such
as those that provide instant messaging or Internet
gaming services, because although these services may
contain a voice component, customers of these services
cannot receive calls from and place calls to the PSTN.
The Order adopted today reaches the following
conclusions:
• Interconnected VoIP providers must deliver all 911
calls to the customer’s local emergency operator.
This must be a standard, rather than optional, feature
of the service.
• Interconnected VoIP providers must provide emergency
operators with the call back number and location
information of their customers (i.e., E911) where the
emergency operator is capable of receiving it.
Although the customer must provide the location
information, the VoIP provider must provide the
customer a means of updating this information, whether
he or she is at home or away from home.
• By the effective date, interconnected VoIP providers
must inform their customers, both new and existing, of
the E911 capabilities and limitations of their
service.
• The incumbent LECs are required to provide access to
their E911 networks to any requesting
telecommunications carrier. They must continue to
provide access to trunks, selective routers, and E911
databases to competing carriers. The Commission will
closely monitor this obligation.
Interconnected VoIP providers must comply with these
requirements, and submit to the Commission a letter
detailing such compliance, no later than 120 days
after the effective date of the Order.
Finally, the Commission stated its intention to adopt,
in a future order, an advanced E911 solution that
includes a method for determining the customer’s
location without the customer having to self report
this information.
Action by the Commission May 19, 2005, by First Report
and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC
05-116). Chairman Martin, Commissioners Abernathy,
Copps, and Adelstein, Chairman Martin, Commissioners
Abernathy, Copps, and Adelstein issuing separate
statements.
WC Docket Nos. 04-36, 05-196
Wireline Competition Bureau Staff Contact: Christi
Shewman, (202) 418-1686.
-FCC-
News about the Federal Communications Commission can
also be found on the Commission’s web site
www.fcc.gov.
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