FCC wireless 911 location-accuracy rules should demand accountability, long-term improvement

Regardless what technological path the FCC ultimately takes, the rules should address location-accuracy needs for both the short term and the long term. The performance goal noted in all proposals reference location accuracy within 50 meters, which is the current benchmark for outdoor wireless calls to 911.

Given the fact that we don’t have any location benchmarks for indoor wireless 911 calls, the 50-meter threshold represents a step in the right direction and probably is an understandable short-term goal. Even though the carriers’ roadmap talks extensively about dispatchable location/civic address, carriers would satisfy the performance-metrics goals by meeting the 50-meter threshold—even six years from now.

Frankly, this is disappointing. Even now, who would use a navigation system that was only accurate within 50 meters outdoors; wouldn’t you miss turns constantly? Indoors, a 50-meter swing means you could be in two or three different buildings in some dense urban environments—and that can result in a loss of valuable time as public-safety personnel respond to a 911 call.

With the benefits of technological advances and infrastructure deployments indoors and outdoors, the location-accuracy threshold should become more exacting in the future. Dispatchable location or a smaller-circle accuracy—maybe in the 15-20 meter range–should be the standard for the latter stages of the performance metrics.

And meeting these higher location-accuracy thresholds should be rewarded. Because they would be very similar to what is available via the copper-based plant, meeting this goal could be included in the criteria the FCC could establish for carriers seeking to retire their legacy landline networks.

These rules not only should anticipate changes in carriers' network infrastructure but also the environments they serve. Testbed evaluations should be careful to include various types of buildings, including those with energy-efficient materials that make it extremely difficult for outdoor signals to penetrate a building.

Finally, the FCC rules should include mechanisms that include accountability based on real-world location results, not simply projections based on what happens in testbeds. This likely will include some extra effort at the PSAP level to document whether the wireless location accompanying the call was accurate, but this should not be too cumbersome, particularly as PSAPs upgrade to next-gen 911 architecture that are optimized to handle Big Data.

Hopefully, FCC commissioners will make wise choices as they establish much-needed rules for 911 location that include indoor wireless communications that ensure accountability for the delivery of data that is accurate enough to be meaningful to public-safety. After all, countless lives will depend on it.