FCC to vote on text-to-911 deadlines

The Federal Communications Commission will vote next month on deadlines by which cellphone companies must allow users to send text messages to 911.

{mosads}At its monthly meeting on Aug. 8, the FCC will vote on an item that will require cellphone companies and others to provide text-to-911 services by the end of the year.

The agency voted in January to move ahead with plans to require cellphone companies and certain Internet-enabled text services to allow users to text to 911.

During the January meeting, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler praised the major cellphone companies’ voluntary commitments to making text-to-911 available and pressured 911 call centers and others to make the service uniformly available.

The FCC sought comment on how technologically feasible such requirements will be and will vote on those deadlines next month.

The vote will also include moving forward with a rule-making process regarding other parts of the text-to-911 proposal.

Next month’s meeting will also include a vote on a set of rules aimed at increasing the efficiency and decreasing the regulatory burden of requirements for antenna structures.