FCC Considering Change To Cellular 911 Rules

After a major public safety communications group changed its position on regulations for routing 911 calls from uninitialized cellular phones, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is now requesting feedback from other groups and agencies if the practice should end. If the regulation is changed, it would reduce the number of accidental, malicious and inappropriate calls that dispatchers must now handle from anonymous cellular callers, and which take time away from genuine 911 calls. The FCC’s Notice of Inquiry came after the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) recently reversed its original support for the regulation that requires cellular carriers to route every 911 call to a public safety answering point (PSAP), even those made from a handset that has not been registered with a carrier. The rule was issued in 1997 to insure that every possible call for help was routed and handled by a dispatcher. However, NENA now says times have changed, including how old, recycled handsets are being used. In a letter to the FCC, the group noted there is now a “consensus view that the promotion of (non-initialized) devices does more harm than good.” At some PSAPs, up to 60 percent of wireless 911 calls are not actual emergencies, and create delays in handling other telephone calls or even radio traffic. Download (pdf) the FCC’s Notice of Inquiry, along with NENA’s letter outlining their reversal of position, and some original 2008 documents about the “must route” regulation.