Aug 10, 2007 12:29 PM, - MRT

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) this week reinforced its desire that the FCC rule quickly on the first half of its E-911 proceeding, which tentatively concludes that wireless carriers should meet the FCC’s E-911 location accuracy standard within each PSAP territory.

APCO raised the issue when its Project LOCATE study revealed that many PSAPs do not receive reliable location information from wireless phones that are used to dial 911. None of these carriers are considered to be non-compliant under the FCC standard, which lets carriers average large regions—such as entire states—when computing accuracy data for compliance purposes.

The second half of the E-911 proceeding examines forward-looking policy matters, including whether VoIP and wireless providers should have similar location-accuracy standards for emergency calls.

“APCO’s position is that we hope that the commission can push and get that PSAP-accuracy issue behind everybody—it provides a preface for a lot of those other issues,” APCO legal and government-affairs director Robert Gurss said during a regulatory panel at APCO conference on Wednesday. “Unless that issue is resolved, it’s really hard to dig deep on the other issues. Also, it helps the parties—once they agree on the part—to work more cooperatively on the other issues.”

Bruce Gottlieb, a member of FCC Commissioner Michael Copps’ staff, said Copps is willing to rule on the PSAP-level first, as APCO has requested.

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