Congress, FCC Take Action On VoIP's E911 Issue

Telecom Policy Report, May 23, 2005

New Bills, Order Also Press Local Telco Cooperation

Two bills introduced in the U.S. Congress and a much-awaited order from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finally took shape last week regarding the pressing demand that voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) companies support enhanced 911 (E911) compatible with existing emergency call-handling systems. The Washington, D.C., actions also press incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and other third-party service providers that currently handle such services to allow VoIP companies all the necessary access for full 911 functionality.

Proposed legislation on the 911 controversy, including the VoIP-ILEC relationship, surfaced in the House and the Senate on May 19 - one day before an open FCC meeting during which new Chairman Kevin J. Martin presided over a unanimously approved (4-0 vote) and a highly anticipated move that was widely hailed even before it was formalized. Martin reportedly pushed for the 911 rules soon after taking over the agency in March (TPR, May 16, May 9).

In considering both VoIP obligations as well as ILEC cooperation in their planned companion bills, it is clear that congressional lawmakers want to codify the industry's public requirements on each side of the 911 equation, ostensibly in order to make sure - instead of relying on implication or regulator discretion - that the FCC has the proper enforcement authority on both counts.

Substantial state-government, emergency-organization and public-advocacy group pressure was bearing down inside the Beltway over VoIP's E911 shortcomings; also significant was the embarrassingly earlier 911 action taken last month (TPR, April 6) on VoIP companies - including 90 days to comply or shut down - by Canada's main regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Pressure in the United States was exacerbated by state legal actions surrounding VoIP and highly publicized 911 failures. In terms of Congress's voting constituencies and the FCC's public interest criteria, the feds hope taking such consumer-protection steps will minimize the likelihood of incidents that underscore the lack of VoIP 911 preparedness, that sour confidence in government authorities and that erode VoIP service growth.

The bicameral VoIP 911 legislation introduced last week includes H.R. 418 in the House sponsored by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) and S.1063 in the Senate sponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.); both proposed acts are called the "I.P.- Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act of 2005," and they reside in committees on both sides of the legislature that oversee mainstream telecom matters. H.R. 410 was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and S.1063 was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

This lawmaking effort also is said to have bipartisan support from the Congressional E911 Caucus; as a result, the co-chairs of that caucus additionally are listed as co-sponsors of the bills in their respective legislative bodies: Reps. Jim Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Sens. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Hilary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

Gordon and several congressional colleagues stress not only the obvious potential life-and-death aspects connected with emergency calling, but also cognizance of possible VoIP company problems connecting to existing 911 systems. Gordon says both bills require traditional telephone companies to give VoIP companies access to their 911 networks as well as requiring VoIP companies to not only provide basic and enhanced 911 services (caller phone numbers, locations and other related information).

Under provisions of the legislation and until the 911 rules are fully implemented, any VoIP service providers unable to comply with the requirements must give customers clear and conspicuous notice that 911 and E911 services are unavailable to them when customers purchase the service.

VoIP Must Follow Wireless Industry Example

"This bill recognizes there are technological issues to overcome, but it is extremely important that the public's safety be protected," Rep. Gordon says. "That's why the legislation also requires the FCC to set standards implementing these rules that are technically and operationally feasible." Legislative aides say both bills have been in the works since early this year, with much of the language and construct patterned after the "Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999" that both codified 911 service obligations in the cellular business and strengthened the teeth of the FCC, state and local enforcement of wireless emergency call-handling conditions.

The intent of discussions among legislators and with the industry also is to clarify ambiguities and to forestall any legal challenges to federal rules on VoIP 911 drafted by the FCC. Congress believes the bills can be more comprehensive than reliance solely on FCC authority under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.