Wireless-carrier trade associations express concern with FCC’s indoor-location proposal
Some FCC commissioners proposed that carriers should not be required to implement the indoor-location technology until it is determined that a technology exists that will meet the requirements established by the commission. Josef indicated that this approach would be more palatable to wireless carriers.
“We agree with the FCC’s goals and the notion of improving indoor location accuracy is certainly something that the wireless industry agrees with and has been working on,” CTIA’s Josef said. “What does concern us is that the FCC is setting enforceable rules based on technology that doesn’t exist. We believe these are aspirational goals.
“We would much prefer to work with public safety—as we have in the past very successfully—to come up with achievable goals for enhancing and improving indoor location accuracy. But basing rules on technology that hasn’t been proven to meet those proposed rules is troubling.”
In fact, establishing an unrealistic rule could be more damaging than not having an indoor-location requirement created at all, according to Josef.
“It doesn’t do any benefit to public safety or to consumers to have a certain expectation set out there by the FCC that can’t be met, due to the limitations of the technology,” he said.