NENA/APCO Propose Relaxed 911 Standard

NENA and APCO have written a joint letter to the FCC saying they’re prepared to support a relaxed accuracy standard for cellular 911 calls. First, the groups say they’ve previously advocated for measuring accuracy on a PSAP-by-PSAP basis, instead of over a wider–sometimes state-wide–basis. The groups believed that using a larger area allowed wireless carriers to “hide” large inaccuracies on a local level. Now the groups are willing to use the county level to report how well cellular phones provide locations during 911 calls. Second, the groups previously supported a 95% standard for accuracy reporting–150 meters for handset-based solutions, 300 meters for network-based solutions. Now the groups write, “We recognize that satisfying this
requirement at a PSAP or county level is especially difficult for many carriers due to variations in
geography and system deployments.” NENA/APCO says, “The Commission may want to consider either reducing the percentage of 9‐1‐1 calls from 95% or increasing the 150/300 meter metrics.” Download (pdf) the group’s letter here.