Feds pave way for emergency phone lines of the future

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is moving forward with plans to ensure people in emergencies can get help during phone companies’ planned switch onto new Internet-based lines of the future.

“Boy, I sure hope that when I make a 911 call, somebody has responsibility for the new structure that that 911 call goes through,” Chairman Tom Wheeler said during Friday’s meeting.

{mosads}Many telephone networks are eyeing a switch from old copper wires to new, Internet Protocol (IP)-based systems.

But the change could cause some problems.

Copper lines don’t go dark during a power outage, for instance, but Internet wires could be at risk, potentially leaving people stranded in an emergency.

In other cases, software glitches and coding errors have already prevented thousands of people from being able to reach 911 even when the weather is totally clear.

To address those concerns, the FCC on Friday proposed having phone companies maintain a backup power source for use during an emergency and disclose more information about their plans.

A separate proposal would expand the agency’s rules for 911 services to include new modes of communication, such as smartphone applications. 

“What we have a responsibility to all Americans to ensure is that in this much heralded, much desired, much promoted transformation to IP networks, that consumers have portability of expectations as to what those networks should be doing,” Wheeler said. “That’s the road that we go down today.”

The commission’s two Republicans endorsed some of the measures but opposed a provision requiring companies to get approval from the FCC before ending some of its services. They also objected to the update to the FCC’s 911 rules, which Commissioner Ajit Pai called a “proposed federal takeover of the 911 system” run by local officials.

“Micromanagement from Washington is neither appropriate nor effective, even if we were equipped to carry it out, which we are not,” he added.

Mike O’Rielly, the other Republican commissioner on the five-member commissioner, warned that the FCC was “regulating to avoid seemingly hypothetical harms.” 

Tags 9-1-1 Federal Communications Commission IP transition Tom Wheeler

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