NEWSReport No. DC-2654     ACTION IN DOCKET CASE         September 19, 1994

        FCC TAKES ACTIONS TO ENSURE ACCESSIBILITY TO 911 SERVICES
                                                (GEN DOCKET 94-102)

     The Commission has initiated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to ensure that
wireless telephone users have access to 911 emergency services comparable to those
currently available to most users of the wireline telephone network.  The Commission also
proposed rules to make these 911 and enhanced 911 (location identification) services
available to customers who are served by Private Branch Exchanges (PBXs) and by key
telephone systems.  The Commission's efforts are intended to promote broad availability of
911 services to users of the public switched telephone network who rely on these services in
emergencies. 

     Although approximately 76 percent of all switched access lines have access to
enhanced 911 services, mobile radio users and most telephones served by PBX-type
equipment do not have access to those enhanced capabilities.  The Commission initiated this
proceeding to ensure that these developments in telecommunications technologies include
access to emergency assistance.  

     Users of mobile radio services increasingly rely on 911 services.  The Commission
proposed to require commercial mobile radio services (CMRS) that provide, or are capable
of providing, real time voice services to include features that will make enhanced 911
services available to mobile radio callers.  These features include Automatic Number
Identification (ANI), Automatic Location Information (ALI), Selective Routing (SR) and
others.  

     The Commission proposed that:      

     --  (a) customers of mobile radio services be able to obtain access to emergency
services by dialing 911 without having to dial additional digits; (b) such callers be able to
place 911 calls without meeting any mobile radio service user validation requirements; and
(c) mobile radio service calls to 911 be placed at the beginning of any queue of calls awaiting
availability of radio or network resources;

     -- mobile radio services furnish information necessary for emergency service
providers to locate a 911 caller who is using a mobile radio unit;



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     -- mobile radio services permit public service answering points (PSAPs) to call back
immediately a mobile unit from which a 911 call has been received; and

     --  mobile radio equipment that does not conform to the performance criteria proposed
in the NPRM must be labelled with a warning that access to 911 is limited and a description
that specifies those limitations. 

     In addition, the Commission seeks comment on whether mobile radio services should
provide PSAPs with common channel signalling information elements, including subscriber's
name and routing information, to direct the call to the proper PSAP.  The Commission also
seeks comment on when the requirements should be imposed.

     The Commission also proposed technical standards and performance requirements to
ensure the compatibility of PBXs and similar systems with enhanced 911 emergency services.

     PBX systems route calls between telephone stations in an organization and connect
those stations to the public switched telephone network through trunk lines.  A single PBX
may serve a number of different buildings.  When a caller dials 911 from a station served by
a PBX, a PSAP attendant may be able to retrieve the street address of the main building, but
would not know if that was the building where emergency assistance was needed. 

     The Commission proposed that:

     -- new PBX and similar equipment have the capability to, among other things, provide
a caller's number and location to the PSAPs where the calls are received;

     -- PBXs permit callers to obtain access to a PSAP by dialing 911, i.e., without dialing
"9" or another access code to obtain an outside dialtone; 

     -- new PBX equipment have the capability to alert, and provide calling information
to, an attendant at the location served by the PBX so that such attendants can assist in
responding to an emergency; and

     -- Requiring that new PBX equipment manufactured or imported one year after the
effective date of a Report and Order, or sold eighteen months after that date, comply with
the new standards.  Under the proposed rule, PBX equipment manufactured or imported
during the first year must be labeled with emergency dialing instructions both on the device
and on the outside of the packaging in which it is marketed.  

     Action by the Commission September 19, 1994, by Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(FCC 94-237).  Chairman Hundt, Commissioners Quello, Barrett, Ness and Chong.

                                  - FCC -
     News Media contacts: Audrey Spivack and Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418-0500.
     Common Carrier Bureau contact: Suzanne Hutchings at (202) 634-1802.
     Office of Engineering and Technology contact: John Reed at (202) 653-7313.