FCC Approves 5-0 Location-Based Routing for Wireless Carriers

FCC commissioners unanimously approved an order Thursday requiring carriers to implement location-based routing (LBR) for calls and real-time texts to 911 within six months of when the rules become effective for nationwide providers and 24 months for small providers.

FCC officials said the item was essentially the same as a draft Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated three weeks ago (see 2401040064). Based on the latest information, 23 million wireless 911 calls annually may be routed to the wrong public safety answering point, Rosenworcel said Thursday.

“The result that a consumer will see" with the new rule "is that the right PSAP will answer their 911 call,” said David Furth, deputy chief of the FCC Public Safety Bureau. For example, a call made from Montgomery County, Maryland, will be answered by a PSAP there, even if the tower handling that call is located 20 miles away in Washington, D.C.

Rosenworcel recalled a visit she made to a 911 call center in downtown Little Rock. Staff showed her how dialing 911 on a wireless phone while standing in the building doesn’t get answered in Little Rock. Instead, the call was routed to a PSAP in North Little Rock, Arkansas, on the other side of the Arkansas River, she said. “This slows emergency response because it requires transferring the call to get to the right public safety officials who can send the right response,” she said.

“While our wireless networks, on the whole, have made it much easier to get help when and where we need it, many of them continue to use unreliable tower-based routing to figure out which PSAP should” get emergency calls, said Commissioner Geoffrey Starks. The record shows tower-based misroutes as high as 12% of 911 calls, he said.

Commissioner Brendan Carr noted that the original notice of inquiry on LBR of 911 calls was approved in 2018, under former Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1803220027) and there was “bipartisan commitment” to make 911 calls more accurate. “It’s a unique set of challenges that we have to get right,” he said. Carr said the FCC now needs to examine how to ensure that 988 calls are also routed to the right location (see 2309280085).

“This could save lives,” said Commissioner Anna Gomez. At least one national carrier has implemented LBR nationwide on its network, which “demonstrates that better 911 routing is a feasible technical solution for carriers,” she said. Other carriers have begun deployment, she said. The draft order cites AT&T as the national carrier that has completed the LBR roll out.

“Using this precise location information to route 911 calls will result in millions more wireless 911 callers reaching emergency responders without the need for transfer or delay,” said an FCC news release.

“Wireless is a lifeline for Americans when they need help the most,” a CTIA spokesperson said in an email: “CTIA and its members share the Commission’s goal of ensuring that wireless 9-1-1 calls are promptly routed, and the wireless industry continues to invest in and deploy technologies that enhance the accuracy and reliability of location information for wireless 9-1-1 calls. We look forward to continuing our work with the FCC and public safety stakeholders on this issue.”