US FCC moves to tighten wireless "E911" standards

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission moved on Thursday toward toughening wireless standards to help police and firefighters more accurately locate cellular telephone callers in an emergency.

FCC commissioners voted to consider proposals to tighten standards that wireless carriers must meet for the accuracy of their so-called "E911" function, which allows public safety workers to find someone who has dialed 911 from a cellular telephone.

Under current standards, wireless carriers using some E911 systems must be able to determine a caller's location within 100 meters for 67 percent of the calls and 300 meters for 95 percent of the calls. Other systems are required to determine location within 50 meters for 67 percent of calls and 150 meters for 95 percent of the calls.

At a public meeting, FCC commissioners raised fears that current standards could lead emergency responders to search in the wrong place for an injured caller on a highway or fail to locate which floor a caller is on in a high-rise building.

The proposal tentatively calls for requirements to be changed so that compliance would no longer be averaged statewide or regionwide, a provision that has enabled wireless carriers to meet standards even if the accuracy of their system is poor in some parts of a state.

The FCC will consider a proposal that would instead require wireless carriers to meet location accuracy standards for each local emergency call center.

"Quite simply, providing location accuracy information on a multi-state or state-wide basis is not enough," said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican.

The FCC will conduct further studies and consultations with the industry and public safety officials before issuing a final revised standards.

"We need to get a handle -- a better handle than we presently have -- on the precise capabilities and limitations of today's emergency calling technologies," said Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat.

The FCC said it also would study whether it should require providers of voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) service to meet the location accuracy standards, and whether to defer enforcement of new standards to allow time for wireless carriers to come into compliance.