The Jeff Pulver Blog: FCC Grants Waiver of 911 Obligations for Video Relay Services -- Does the FCC think the Disabled Community does not need E-911 as desperately as other users of IP--Based Communications?

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December 30, 2005

FCC Grants Waiver of 911 Obligations for Video Relay Services -- Does the FCC think the Disabled Community does not need E-911 as desperately as other users of IP--Based Communications?

There was an interesting item in the Dec. 28th issue of the US Federal Register that shines a spotlight on the unfair treatment being leveled against the VoIP industry in the US.

It seems that on Dec. 5th, the FCC granted a one year 911 waiver for Internet based relay services (TRS/VRS) because of technical infeasibility.

According to the FCC:

"In view of the continued technological challenges to determining the
geographic location of TRS calls originating via the Internet, including VRS
calls, as well as the recently released VRS 911 NPRM seeking comment on this
issue, the Commission finds good cause exists to extend the waiver of the
emergency call handling requirement for VRS providers until January 1, 2007
or upon the release of an order addressing the emergency (911) call handling
issue, whichever comes first."
.
"The Commission notes that in the 2005 annual reports the VRS providers
agreed that it is not technologically feasible to automatically route
emergency calls to the appropriate PSAP, because they do not obtain location
information from the VRS user initiating the call via the Internet."

I do not take issue with the FCC waiver decision. The waiver seems like the right move under the circumstances. What I do find revealing is the FCC's reluctance to grant similar deference to the nascent VoIP industry.

This waiver grant does not deal specifically with VoIP. Rather, the waiver considers the disability community and its ability to access 911 through Internet-based relay services (i.e., Internet video phones). Sounds a lot like IP-based communications to me. This seems to be one of those parallel universes at the FCC -- where 911 policies aren't always consistent.

The FCC found that providing 911 for an Internet-based service is harder because you don't always know the location of the user (uh, hello) -- despite already giving this category of users years to work through the technology.

Contrary to the rules (or Publicly-Noticed) obligations that the FCC imposed upon the "traditional" (non-disability-community) IP-based communications providers, in this case the FCC did not require a "Heartbeat"-like (AT&T) solution so that the user's location could always be known. The FCC did not require that services for the disabled be disabled themselves where full E-911 could not be provided. The FCC did not give them just 120 days. Nor is the FCC preventing the service from being offered where E-911 can't be provided.

This waiver decision should have implications for VoIP, but I suspect it is another case where decision makers at the FCC are out of step with each other, where different rules apply to differently-labeled, but identical services. "A rose by any other name."

By last count, this makes three FCC 911 decisions between now and February that are likely to be out of step with the FCC's VoIP ruling.

1) In this VRS instance, the FCC found that it is hard to locate somebody on the Internet (even after giving these providers years to comply).

2) I think there is still a pending extension request from members of the wireless industry regarding inclusion of GPS chips in wireless handsets. I thought an FCC decision was imminent (i.e., by the end of '05). It would certainly be telling if the deep-pocketed wireless industry receives yet another extension, given the leeway the wireless industry has had over the years and the apparent reluctance to grant any latitude to the VoIP industry. Rumor has that the FCC will give them some sort of waiver, but is unlikely to impose a marketing ban on wireless consumers despite the fact that the industry has had half a decade to comply. I also do not expect the FCC to require the wireless industry to contact every user to let them know about the limitations of their 911 solutions or to require stickers on the handsets warning users.

3) In February, the FCC will begin requiring satellite phones to provide basic 911 (not even E-911.) It is the type of 911 services that the FCC said was unacceptable for VoIP at its May meeting because it would cost lives. But the FCC is allowing satellite phones to use a basic 911 technology (no location info) because the FCC discovered that, when using a satellite, it is hard to know the user's location. Isn't that what the FCC just found for Internet based 911 relay services and refused to accept for VoIP services?

If satellite phones had to live by the same rules as VoIP, satellite phones (which have proved essential in emergencies) would be banned in America - or, at a minimum, could not be marketed.

At various times, Chairman Martin has said that like services should be treated the same, but I just don't see the symmetry here. (Admittedly, Martin has said we are lucky that he hasn't thrown the entire wireless E-911 rules at VoIP -- GPS in the handsets and location accuracy. But I would gladly accept that if the industry were given 16+ years to implement, given liability protection and guaranteed access to the necessary infrastructure.)

One final point of irony. It is interesting to note the fact that the FCC seems to value the lives of VoIP users over wireless users and satellite users. I, however, do not understand why he doesn't value the lives of the disabled as much as he cares about the lives of VoIP users.

Tags: voip, E911, wireless

Posted by jeff on December 30, 2005 12:37 AM | Permalink

Additional resources: #140conf events | Watch the Jeff Pulver Show | Jeff's Qik Videos

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Jeff, you would probably know this better than I, but if the FCC can be shown to be applying their rules unevenly, or giving preferential treatment to one industry over another, wouldn't that strengthen any court challenge of their E911 rules?

Sometimes it sounds to me like Commissioner Martin may be just the sort of bureaucrat that federal judges love to put in their place. I know that court challenges are expensive and drag on seemingly forever, but if he backs the VoIP industry into a corner, they may have no other choice. The baby Bells are certainly not afraid to use the federal courts when they don't like an order of a commission, and far too often they win, even when their win is to the detriment of telephone customers.

Of course, the other possibility is that the more apparently unfair these rulings become, the more likely that Congress may be moved to act, but unfortunately they can be slower and more frustrating than the courts sometimes.

Posted by: Anonymous at December 30, 2005 02:55 AM

December 30, 2005

FCC Grants Waiver of 911 Obligations for Video Relay Services -- Does the FCC think the Disabled Community does not need E-911 as desperately as other users of IP--Based Communications?

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