FCC 20.18 Revised as of October 1, 2006
Goto Year:2005 |
2007
Sec. 20.18 911 Service.
(a) Scope of section. The following requirements are only applicable to
Broadband Personal Communications Services (part 24, subpart E of this
chapter), Cellular Radio Telephone Service (part 22, subpart H of this
chapter), and Geographic Area Specialized Mobile Radio Services and
Incumbent Wide Area SMR Licensees in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands (included
in part 90, subpart S of this chapter) and those entities that offer voice
service to consumers by purchasing airtime or capacity at wholesale rates
from these licensees, collectively CMRS providers. In addition, service
providers in these enumerated services are subject to the following
requirements solely to the extent that they offer real-time, two way
switched voice service that is interconnected with the public switched
network and utilize an in-network switching facility which enables the
provider to reuse frequencies and accomplish seamless hand-offs of
subscriber calls.
(b) Basic 911 Service. CMRS providers subject to this section must transmit
all wireless 911 calls without respect to their call validation process to a
Public Safety Answering Point, or, where no Public Safety Answering Point
has been designated, to a designated statewide default answering point or
appropriate local emergency authority pursuant to Sec. 64.3001 of this chapter,
provided that “all wireless 911 calls” is defined as “any call initiated by
a wireless user dialing 911 on a phone using a compliant radio frequency
protocol of the serving carrier.”
(c) TTY Access to 911 Services. CMRS providers subject to this section must
be capable of transmitting 911 calls from individuals with speech or hearing
disabilities through means other than mobile radio handsets, e.g., through
the use of Text Telephone Devices (TTY).
(d) Phase I enhanced 911 services. (1) As of April 1, 1998, or within six
months of a request by the designated Public Safety Answering Point as set
forth in paragraph (j) of this section, whichever is later, licensees
subject to this section must provide the telephone number of the originator
of a 911 call and the location of the cell site or base station receiving a
911 call from any mobile handset accessing their systems to the designated
Public Safety Answering Point through the use of ANI and Pseudo-ANI.
(2) When the directory number of the handset used to originate a 911 call is
not available to the serving carrier, such carrier's obligations under the
paragraph (d)(1) of this section extend only to delivering 911 calls and
available call party information, including that prescribed in paragraph (l)
of this section, to the designated Public Safety Answering Point.
Note to paragraph (d): With respect to 911 calls accessing their systems
through the use of TTYs, licensees subject to this section must comply with
the requirements in paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2) of this section, as to
calls made using a digital wireless system, as of October 1, 1998.
(e) Phase II enhanced 911 service. Licensees subject to this section must
provide to the designated Public Safety Answering Point Phase II enhanced
911 service, i.e., the location of all 911 calls by longitude and latitude
in conformance with Phase II accuracy requirements (see paragraph (h) of
this section).
(f) Phase-in for network-based location technologies. Licensees subject to
this section who employ a network-based location technology shall provide
Phase II 911 enhanced service to at least 50 percent of their coverage area
or 50 percent of their population beginning October 1, 2001, or within 6
months of a PSAP request, whichever is later; and to 100 percent of their
coverage area or 100 percent of their population within 18 months of such a
request or by October 1, 2002, whichever is later.
(g) Phase-in for handset-based location technologies. Licensees subject to
this section who employ a handset-based location technology may phase in
deployment of Phase II enhanced 911 service, subject to the following
requirements:
(1) Without respect to any PSAP request for deployment of Phase II 911
enhanced service, the licensee shall:
(i) Begin selling and activating location-capable handsets no later than
October 1, 2001;
(ii) Ensure that at least 25 percent of all new handsets activated are
location-capable no later than December 31, 2001;
(iii) Ensure that at least 50 percent of all new handsets activated are
location-capable no later than June 30, 2002; and
(iv) Ensure that 100 percent of all new digital handsets activated are
location-capable no later than December 31, 2002, and thereafter.
(v) By December 31, 2005, achieve 95 percent penetration of location-capable
handsets among its subscribers.
(vi) Licensees that meet the enhanced 911 compliance obligations through
GPS-enabled handsets and have commercial agreements with resellers will not
be required to include the resellers' handset counts in their compliance
percentages.
(2) Once a PSAP request is received, the licensee shall, in the area served
by the PSAP, within six months or by October 1, 2001, whichever is later:
(i) Install any hardware and/or software in the CMRS network and/or other
fixed infrastructure, as needed, to enable the provision of Phase II
enhanced 911 service; and
(ii) Begin delivering Phase II enhanced 911 service to the PSAP.
(3) For all 911 calls from portable or mobile phones that do not contain the
hardware and/or software needed to enable the licensee to provide Phase II
enhanced 911 service, the licensee shall, after a PSAP request is received,
support, in the area served by the PSAP, Phase I location for 911 calls or
other available best practice method of providing the location of the
portable or mobile phone to the PSAP.
(4) Licensees employing handset-based location technologies shall ensure
that location-capable portable or mobile phones shall conform to industry
interoperability standards designed to enable the location of such phones by
multiple licensees.
(h) Phase II accuracy. Licensees subject to this section shall comply with
the following standards for Phase II location accuracy and reliability:
(1) For network-based technologies: 100 meters for 67 percent of calls, 300
meters for 95 percent of calls;
(2) For handset-based technologies: 50 meters for 67 percent of calls, 150
meters for 95 percent of calls.
(3) For the remaining 5 percent of calls, location attempts must be made and
a location estimate for each call must be provided to the appropriate PSAP.
(i) Reports on Phase II plans. Licensees subject to this section shall
report to the Commission their plans for implementing Phase II enhanced 911
service, including the location-determination technology they plan to employ
and the procedure they intend to use to verify conformance with the Phase II
accuracy requirements by November 9, 2000. Licensees are required to update
these plans within thirty days of the adoption of any change. These reports
and updates may be filed electronically in a manner to be designated by the
Commission.
(j) Conditions for enhanced 911 services—(1) Generally. The requirements set
forth in paragraphs (d) through (h) of this section shall be applicable only
if the administrator of the designated Public Safety Answering Point has
requested the services required under those paragraphs and the Public Safety
Answering Point is capable of receiving and utilizing the data elements
associated with the service and a mechanism for recovering the Public Safety
Answering Point's costs of the enhanced 911 service is in place.
(2) Commencement of six-month period. (i) Except as provided in paragraph
(ii) of this section, for purposes of commencing the six-month period for
carrier implementation specified in paragraphs (d), (f) and (g) of this
section, a PSAP will be deemed capable of receiving and utilizing the data
elements associated with the service requested, if it can demonstrate that
it has:
(A) Ordered the necessary equipment and has commitments from suppliers to
have it installed and operational within such six-month period; and
(B) Made a timely request to the appropriate local exchange carrier for the
necessary trunking, upgrades, and other facilities.
(ii) For purposes of commencing the six-month period for carrier
implementation specified in paragraphs (f) and (g) of this section, a PSAP
that is Phase I-capable using a Non-Call Path Associated Signaling (NCAS)
technology will be deemed capable of receiving and utilizing the data
elements associated with Phase II service if it can demonstrate that it has
made a timely request to the appropriate local exchange carrier for the ALI
database upgrade necessary to receive the Phase II information.
(3) Tolling of six-month period. Where a wireless carrier has served a
written request for documentation on the PSAP within 15 days of receiving
the PSAP's request for Phase I or Phase II enhanced 911 service, and the
PSAP fails to respond to such request within 15 days of such service, the
six-month period for carrier implementation specified in paragraphs (d),
(f), and (g) of this section will be tolled until the PSAP provides the
carrier with such documentation.
(4) Carrier certification regarding PSAP readiness issues. At the end of the
six-month period for carrier implementation specified in paragraphs (d), (f)
and (g) of this section, a wireless carrier that believes that the PSAP is
not capable of receiving and utilizing the data elements associated with the
service requested may file a certification with the Commission. Upon filing
and service of such certification, the carrier may suspend further
implementation efforts, except as provided in paragraph (j)(4)(x) of this
section.
(i) As a prerequisite to filing such certification, no later than 21 days
prior to such filing, the wireless carrier must notify the affected PSAP, in
writing, of its intent to file such certification. Any response that the
carrier receives from the PSAP must be included with the carrier's
certification filing.
(ii) The certification process shall be subject to the procedural
requirements set forth in sections 1.45 and 1.47 of this chapter.
(iii) The certification must be in the form of an affidavit signed by a
director or officer of the carrier, documenting:
(A) The basis for the carrier's determination that the PSAP will not be
ready;
(B) Each of the specific steps the carrier has taken to provide the E911
service requested;
(C) The reasons why further implementation efforts cannot be made until the
PSAP becomes capable of receiving and utilizing the data elements associated
with the E911 service requested; and
(D) The specific steps that remain to be completed by the wireless carrier
and, to the extent known, the PSAP or other parties before the carrier can
provide the E911 service requested.
(iv) All affidavits must be correct. The carrier must ensure that its
affidavit is correct, and the certifying director or officer has the duty to
personally determine that the affidavit is correct.
(v) A carrier may not engage in a practice of filing inadequate or
incomplete certifications for the purpose of delaying its responsibilities.
(vi) To be eligible to make a certification, the wireless carrier must have
completed all necessary steps toward E911 implementation that are not
dependent on PSAP readiness.
(vii) A copy of the certification must be served on the PSAP in accordance
with Sec. 1.47 of this chapter. The PSAP may challenge in writing the accuracy
of the carrier's certification and shall serve a copy of such challenge on
the carrier. See Sec. Sec. 1.45 and 1.47 and Sec. Sec. 1.720 through 1.736 of this chapter.
(viii) If a wireless carrier's certification is facially inadequate, the
six-month implementation period specified in paragraphs (d), (f) and (g) of
this section will not be suspended as provided for in paragraph (j)(4) of
this section.
(ix) If a wireless carrier's certification is inaccurate, the wireless
carrier will be liable for noncompliance as if the certification had not
been filed.
(x) A carrier that files a certification under paragraph (j)(4) of this
section shall have 90 days from receipt of the PSAP's written notice that it
is capable of receiving and utilizing the data elements associated with the
service requested to provide such service in accordance with the
requirements of paragraphs (d) through (h) of this section.
(5) Modification of deadlines by agreement. Nothing in this section shall
prevent Public Safety Answering Points and carriers from establishing, by
mutual consent, deadlines different from those imposed for carrier and PSAP
compliance in paragraphs (d), (f), and (g)(2) of this section.
(k) Dispatch service. A service provider covered by this section who offers
dispatch service to customers may meet the requirements of this section with
respect to customers who utilize dispatch service either by complying with
the requirements set forth in paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section, or
by routing the customer's emergency calls through a dispatcher. If the
service provider chooses the latter alternative, it must make every
reasonable effort to explicitly notify its current and potential dispatch
customers and their users that they are not able to directly reach a PSAP by
calling 911 and that, in the event of an emergency, the dispatcher should be
contacted.
(l) Non-service-initialized handsets. (1) Licensees subject to this section
that donate a non-service-initialized handset for purposes of providing
access to 911 services are required to:
(i) Program each handset with 911 plus the decimal representation of the
seven least significant digits of the Electronic Serial Number,
International Mobile Equipment Identifier, or any other identifier unique to
that handset;
(ii) Affix to each handset a label which is designed to withstand the length
of service expected for a non-service-initialized phone, and which notifies
the user that the handset can only be used to dial 911, that the 911
operator will not be able to call the user back, and that the user should
convey the exact location of the emergency as soon as possible; and
(iii) Institute a public education program to provide the users of such
handsets with information regarding the limitations of
non-service-initialized handsets.
(2) Manufacturers of 911-only handsets that are manufactured on or after May
3, 2004, are required to:
(i) Program each handset with 911 plus the decimal representation of the
seven least significant digits of the Electronic Serial Number,
International Mobile Equipment Identifier, or any other identifier unique to
that handset;
(ii) Affix to each handset a label which is designed to withstand the length
of service expected for a non-service-initialized phone, and which notifies
the user that the handset can only be used to dial 911, that the 911
operator will not be able to call the user back, and that the user should
convey the exact location of the emergency as soon as possible; and
(iii) Institute a public education program to provide the users of such
handsets with information regarding the limitations of 911-only handsets.
(3) Definitions. The following definitions apply for purposes of this
paragraph.
(i) Non-service-initialized handset. A handset for which there is no valid
service contract with a provider of the services enumerated in paragraph (a)
of this section.
(ii) 911-only handset. A non-service-initialized handset that is
manufactured with the capability of dialing 911 only and that cannot receive
incoming calls.
(m) Reseller obligation. (1) Beginning December 31, 2006, resellers have an
obligation, independent of the underlying licensee, to provide access to
basic and enhanced 911 service to the extent that the underlying licensee of
the facilities the reseller uses to provide access to the public switched
network complies with sections 20.18(d)–(g).
(2) Resellers have an independent obligation to ensure that all handsets or
other devices offered to their customers for voice communications and sold
after December 31, 2006 are capable of transmitting enhanced 911 information
to the appropriate PSAP, in accordance with the accuracy requirements of
section 20.18(i).
[ 63 FR 2637 , Jan. 16, 1998, as amended at 64 FR 60130 , Nov. 4, 1999; 64 FR 72956 , Dec. 29, 1999; 65 FR 58661 , Oct. 2, 2000; 65 FR 82295 , Dec. 28, 2000;
66 FR 55623 , Nov. 2, 2001; 67 FR 1648 , Jan. 14, 2002; 67 FR 36117 , May 23,
2002; 68 FR 2918 , Jan. 22, 2003; 69 FR 2519 , Jan. 16, 2004; 69 FR 6581 , Feb.
11, 2004]
Effective Date Note: At 68 FR 2918 , Jan. 22, 2003, Sec. 20.18, paragraph (j)
was revised. Paragraphs (j)(4) and (5) contain information collection and
recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective until approval has
been given by the Office of Management and Budget.
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