Appeals Court Stalls Wireless Accuracy Rules

A federal appeals court has issued a stay of the FCC’s regulations that established accuracy standards for wireless E911 service. The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by T-Mobile and the Rural Cellular Association (RCA), who said that the FCC erred in providing notice of the 2007 deadline for meeting accuracy requirements. Two years ago the FCC established a series of deadlines for wireless carriers to increase the accuracy when determining the location of 911 callers. In a statement, the RCA said, “While RCA members will continue to work on improvements in E911 location accuracy they should not be expected to perform the impossible or to go broke trying.” The court’s ruling means that the FCC must either re-write and re-issue its ruling or come to some other compromise with cellular carriers about the accuracy regulations.