9-1-1, please state your number and location. What’s your emergency?

Since it's introduction in 1965 , the American public became more and more dependant on 9-1-1 services, the National emergency number association estimated that as of February 2005, forms of 911 emergency services were available to 99% of the population and 96% of counties in the united states[1], therefore it comes as no surprise that the American public has certain expectations with respect to availability of 911 and E911 services.

911 services fall into two basic categories[1] based on the capabilities:



Basic 911: is a forwarding arrangement in which calls dialed to 911 are transmitted from the services provider's switch to a single geographically appropriate Public Safety Agency "PSAP" using dedicated emergency trunks. basic 911 does not provide callers location nor does provide call takers with callers location information or a call back number.



Enhanced 911 E911: they route 911 calls through the use of a selective router to a geographically appropriate PSAP based on the caller's location, it can provide the call taker with a call back number referred to as Automatic Numbering Information (ANI) , and in many cases the Automatic location Information (ALI).



911 services can further be divided into wire-line 911 and wireless 911.



The features of E911 become more evident in wireless and cellular networks, where the Mobile nature of the wireless technology makes it more difficult to determine the (ALI) of the caller, the PSAP's ability to access the caller's number and location became an official mandate in 1996 when Cellular Telecommunications and internet Association (CTIA) and three national public safety organizations filed a consensus agreement with the FCC[2],



The consensus agreement proposed a two-step implementation schedule for wireless E911 which was drafted into the FCC's wireless E911 rules,according to this agreement, wireless carriers to provide both basic and enhanced 911 services, in phase I; wireless carriers must provide PSAPs with a call back number and a location of the cell site/sector receiving the call, in phase II Wireless carriers are required to provide the PSAPs the location of all 911 calls by longitude and latitude beginning October 1 2001 [2]



However there are many challenges facing the wireless E911 service , in fact even after the deadline for phase II has passed, PSPAs are still desperate for E911 services, despite the fact that the technology is available, and wireless carriers think of E911 as a value-added service with which they can lure customers away from the competition[2]



The issue is: wireless carriers don't have to make their phones E911 compliant until six months after receiving a valid request form PSAP. so the PSAPs must "upgrade" their networks and calling centers so they can be E911 complaint [2] and here comes a very serious funding issue.



in a study commissioned by the FCC, Dale Hatfield summarized the situation as this:" the issue is simply that, by and large, the existing E911 infrastructure is seriously antiquated"[3] the serious cost of upgrading the system is indeed an obstacle facing the fast and nationwide implementation of Wireless E911 services, In 2003 U.S. Senators Conrad Burns (R. Mont.) and Hillary Clinton (D. NY) have proposed a bill that, if passed into law, would promote national safety and reignite the wireless industry to the tune of $500 million a year in grants[2]. this bill named "the enhanced 911 emergency act of 2003"[4]

The purposes of this Act are[4]:



(1) "to coordinate emergency communications systems, including 911 services and E-911 services, at the Federal, State, and local levels;"


(2) "to provide stability and resources to State and local Public Safety Answering Points, to facilitate the prompt deployment of enhanced 911 services throughout the United States in a ubiquitous and reliable infrastructure; and"


(3) "to ensure that funds collected on telecommunications bills for enhancing emergency 911 services are used only for the purposes for which the funds are being collected".







The bill provides the following [2]:



- "Authorizes $500 million per year for grants to enhance emergency communications

services through planning, infrastructure improvements, equipment purchases, and

personnel training and acquisition. Fifty percent matching grants would be available to

state, local, and tribal governments."



-" Administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration

(NTIA), the grant program would require consultation with the US Department of

Homeland Security. Preference in grants would go to applications that coordinated with

PSAPs and integrated public and commercial services."

- "The FCC is required to review, twice a year, fees for enhancing 911 services. States

would be required to certify that no E911 fees are being used for other purposes."

-" Creation of the NTIA Task Force - Requires the Administrator of NTIA to establish an

Emergency Communications Task Force to facilitate coordination between federal, state,

and local communications systems."



This law advances the sort of public-Private partnership in the telecom industry, a partnership that all parties need. it also provides for a federal solution to the issue of e911 funding.











References:

[1]: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/voip911order.pdf

[2]: http://www.purcellsystems.com/documents/white_papers/e911-the%20case%20for%20federal%20funding.pdf

[3]: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6513296239

[4]: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:2:./temp/~c108W5s0an::