ATIS Supports Improved Location Accuracy for Emergency Calls
Washington, DC ‒ ATIS submitted comments yesterday in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding emergency location information requirements for wireline and wireless communications services.
“The communications industry understands the need and benefits of providing accurate location information in emergency situations and is working diligently to develop practical solutions,” said Susan Miller, ATIS’ President and CEO. “ATIS is working together with service providers, equipment makers, public safety officials and others to ensure that accurate location information is delivered to emergency providers.”
In its comments, ATIS said that location accuracy should be based on the way a device is physically attached to the access network, not on the nature of the voice technology, which could be packet or circuit-switched. ATIS urged the Commission to allow industry to develop solutions for the various types of wireless and wireline providers, including over-the-top VOIP providers.
Additionally, ATIS notes that while further work needs to be done on indoor location accuracy testing, ATIS published information in 2010 that presents guidelines for assessing the performance of wireless location technologies. ATIS’ Approaches to Wireless E911 Indoor Location Testing (ATIS-0500013) report recommends testing representative samples of various indoor environments for location accuracy. Wi-Fi Positioning should be evaluated further to determine whether it could be useful in providing location information.
About ATIS
ATIS is the leading technical planning and standards development organization committed to the rapid development of global, market-driven standards for the information, entertainment and communications industry. More than 200 companies actively formulate standards in ATIS’ Committees, covering issues including: IPTV, Cloud Services, Energy Efficiency, IP-Based and Wireless Technologies, Quality of Service, Billing and Operational Support, Emergency Services, Architectural Platforms and Emerging Networks. In addition, numerous Incubators, Focus and Exploratory Groups address evolving industry priorities including Smart Grid, Machine-to-Machine, Networked Car, IP Downloadable Security, Policy Management and Network Optimization.
ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a member and major U.S. contributor to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio and Telecommunications’ Sectors, and a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). ATIS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). For more information, please visit www.atis.org.
