[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 9, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 8714-8715]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02678]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 9

[PS Docket No. 07-114; FCC 21-11, FRS 17452]


Wireless E911 Location Accuracy Requirements

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Commission adopted an Order on 
Reconsideration that dismisses two petitions for reconsideration filed 
by CTIA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-
International, Inc. (APCO) with respect to the Sixth Report and Order. 
As an alternative and independent ground for resolving the issues 
raised, the Commission denies the petitions on the merits.

DATES: Effective Date: March 11, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rachel Wehr, Law Clerk, Policy and 
Licensing Division, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, (202) 
418-1138 or via email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's Order 
on Reconsideration, FCC 21-11, adopted and released on January 11, 
2021. The complete text of this document is available for public 
inspection on the Commission's website at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-21-11A1.pdf. To request materials in accessible formats 
for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, 
audio format), send an email to [email protected] or call the Consumer & 
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 
(TTY).

Synopsis

    1. The Order on Reconsideration dismisses two petitions for 
reconsideration of the Sixth Report and Order, 85 FR 53234 (Aug. 28, 
2020), filed by CTIA and APCO, 85 FR 66333 (Oct. 19, 2020), as 
procedurally defective and, in the alternative, denies these petitions 
on their merits. In the Fifth Report and Order, 85 FR 2660 (Jan. 16, 
2020), the Commission adopted a z-axis (vertical) location accuracy 
metric of plus or minus 3 meters for 80 percent of indoor wireless 
Enhanced 911 (E911) calls for z-axis capable handsets. The Commission 
also required nationwide commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) 
providers to deploy dispatchable location or z-axis technology that 
meets this metric in the top 25 markets by April 3, 2021 and in the top 
50 markets by April 3, 2023. In a companion Fifth Further Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking, 85 FR 2683 (Jan. 16, 2020), the Commission 
proposed rules to improve E911 wireless location accuracy. Among other 
things, the Commission sought comment on alternative methods for 
carriers to demonstrate z-axis technology deployment and expanding 
dispatchable location solutions. In the Sixth Report and Order, the 
Commission rejected arguments to extend the deployment timeline and 
added a requirement for nationwide CMRS providers to deploy z-axis 
location technology nationwide by April 2025. In addition, the 
Commission required CMRS providers, as of January 6, 2022, to provide 
dispatchable location for wireless 911 calls if it is technically 
feasible and cost-effective to do so. The Commission also allowed 
providers to provide dispatchable location by means other than the 
National Emergency Address Database (NEAD), which ceased operations 
subsequent to the release of the Fifth Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking.
    2. CTIA and APCO filed their petitions on September 28 and 
September 23, 2020, respectively. In its petition, CTIA argued that the 
COVID-19 pandemic has stalled any ability to validate whether z-axis 
location solutions can meet the Commission's vertical location accuracy 
requirements. CTIA also asserted that the compliance timeline adopted 
by the Commission was premised on vendor promises that ``have not 
panned out'' and that time is running out for meeting the April 2021 
deadline. According to CTIA, reconsideration of the Sixth Report and 
Order would provide an opportunity for the Commission to adopt a 
framework based on the use of mobile OS-based solutions. CTIA asserted 
that this would provide a ``viable path'' to achieving ``accurate 9-1-1 
vertical location information nationwide.'' In its reconsideration 
petition, APCO asked the Commission to require CMRS providers to 
deliver dispatchable location for a minimum percentage of 911 calls--an 
alternative that APCO had previously proposed and the Commission 
rejected--rather than tie the dispatchable location benchmark to the 
number of address reference points in a location database. In addition, 
APCO sought reconsideration of the requirement that CMRS providers 
supply dispatchable location if it is technically feasible and cost 
effective to do so. APCO took issue with the Commission's prior 
decision not to adopt its proposal to require dispatchable location for 
a minimum percentage of calls and disputed the conclusion that a 
minimum percentage threshold would go beyond what is technically 
feasible and cost effective.
    3. The Commission determined that CTIA's petition for 
reconsideration of the longstanding timelines for implementing the z-
axis was repetitive, untimely, and failed to offer sufficient factual 
details that would support grant of a waiver to a particular provider. 
The Commission determined that CTIA's petition was procedurally 
improper because it repeated arguments raised by other commenters that 
the Commission fully addressed in the Sixth Report and Order. While the 
Commission noted in the Sixth Report and Order that the pandemic had 
created challenges, the Commission declined to change the long-
established 2021 deadline. The Commission also stated in the Sixth 
Report and Order that parties able to show good cause due to pandemic-
related hardship could seek a waiver in accordance with the 
Commission's rules. CTIA failed to offer sufficient factual details 
about any of its individual member service providers that would support 
grant of a waiver to

[[Page 8715]]

any particular provider. The Commission also determined that CTIA's 
petition to revise the 2021 and 2023 deadlines was untimely, as these 
deadlines were established in the 2015 Fourth Report and Order. In 
response to CTIA's argument that postponement of Stage Zb testing 
created an insurmountable obstacle for meeting the Commission's 
timelines, the Commission found that it had already determined in the 
Sixth Report and Order and Fifth Report and Order that compliance was 
feasible, and the deployment of mobile OS-based technologies had no 
bearing on that feasibility. In response to CTIA's argument that indoor 
location accuracy benchmarks are a mandate that providers use 
barometric sensor-based solutions, the Commission noted that the Sixth 
Report and Order does not require providers to use any particular 
technology. The Commission also disagreed with CTIA's claim that the 
Sixth Report and Order improperly relied on vendors' claims, as the 
Sixth Report and Order underscored the active role that CMRS providers 
would need to play in the deployment of z-axis solutions. In addition, 
the Commission found that, contrary to CTIA's assertions, it had 
adequately considered the benefits of the nationwide providers' 
proposed solution in the Sixth Report and Order, and the decision was 
consistent with Commission precedent. Further, the Commission found 
that it had reasonably relied on confidence and uncertainty standards 
in the rules.
    4. Similarly, the Commission determined that APCO's petition for 
reconsideration of certain requirements was repetitive, untimely, and 
misconstrued the record of this proceeding, which affirms that a 
diverse array of technological approaches could be used to provide 
dispatchable location. The Commission determined that APCO's petition 
for reconsideration was repetitive, as the Commission had already 
considered and rejected in the Sixth Report and Order APCO's suggestion 
that the Commission revise its rules to require CMRS providers to 
provide dispatchable location for a minimum percentage of 911 calls. 
The Commission also determined that APCO's argument that notice was 
insufficient for the Commission's decision to convert the NEAD 
benchmark to an ``any database'' benchmark misconstrued the record, as 
the Commission anticipated the possibility of the NEAD's failure in the 
Fifth Further Notice and proposed allowing CMRS providers to use other 
databases to support dispatchable location. In addition, the Commission 
determined that APCO's argument asking the Commission to substitute a 
dispatchable location requirement based on a minimum percentage of 
calls was untimely, as the deployment and reference point requirements 
were adopted in the 2015 Fourth Report and Order. The Commission 
further found, contrary to APCO's arguments, that the existing 
reference point benchmark was reasonable and that the demise of the 
NEAD does not require changing it; in amending the rules to allow 
alternatives to the NEAD, the Commission made clear that any carrier 
using a non-NEAD database to support dispatchable location must meet 
the same technical and functional requirements that would have applied 
to the NEAD. The Commission affirmed its requirement adopted in the 
Sixth Report and Order that CMRS carriers provide dispatchable location 
with wireless E911 calls when it is technically feasible and cost 
effective to do so. The Commission also found that APCO's proposed 
percentage-of-calls approach was arbitrary and lacked any showing of 
technical feasibility or cost-effectiveness.

I. Procedural Matters

    5. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis. This Order on Reconsideration 
does not contain any new or modified information collection 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 
104-13. Thus, it does not contain any new or modified information 
collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 
employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, 
Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).
    6. Congressional Review Act. The Commission will not send a copy of 
this Order on Reconsideration to Congress and the Government 
Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review Act, see 5 
U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), because no rule was adopted or amended.
    7. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis. In the Sixth Report and 
Order, the Commission provided a Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 
pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA). 
We received no petitions for reconsideration of that Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis. In this present Order on Reconsideration, the 
Commission promulgates no additional final rules. Our present action 
is, therefore, not an RFA matter.

II. Ordering Clauses

    8. Accordingly, it is ordered that the Petition for Reconsideration 
filed on September 28, 2020, by CTIA is dismissed and, alternatively 
and independently, is denied.
    9. It is further ordered that the Petition for Reconsideration 
filed on September 23, 2020, by the Association of Public-Safety 
Communications Officials-International, Inc. is dismissed and, 
alternatively and independently, is denied.
    10. It is further ordered that this Order on Reconsideration shall 
be effective thirty days after publication in the Federal Register.

Federal Communications Commission.
Marlene Dortch,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-02678 Filed 2-5-21; 11:15 am]
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