Revision of the Commission's Rules to Ensure Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems

§ 20.18

47 CFR Ch. I (10–1–05 Edition)

to comply with § 42.11, however, if it
provides service on the affiliated route
solely through the resale of an unaffiliated facilities-based provider’s international switched services.
(3) For purposes of paragraphs (d)(1)
and (2) of this section, affiliated and foreign carrier are defined in § 63.09 of this
Chapter.
(e) For obligations of commercial
mobile radio service providers to provide local number portability, see § 52.1
of this chapter.

compliant radio frequency protocol of
the serving carrier.’’
(c) TTY Access to 911 Services. CMRS
providers subject to this section must
be capable of transmitting 911 calls
from individuals with speech or hearing disabilities through means other
than mobile radio handsets, e.g.,
through the use of Text Telephone Devices (TTY).
(d) Phase I enhanced 911 services. (1)
As of April 1, 1998, or within six months
of a request by the designated Public
Safety Answering Point as set forth in
paragraph (j) of this section, whichever
is later, licensees subject to this section must provide the telephone number of the originator of a 911 call and
the location of the cell site or base station receiving a 911 call from any mobile handset accessing their systems to
the designated Public Safety Answering Point through the use of ANI and
Pseudo-ANI.
(2) When the directory number of the
handset used to originate a 911 call is
not available to the serving carrier,
such carrier’s obligations under the
paragraph (d)(1) of this section extend
only to delivering 911 calls and available call party information, including
that prescribed in paragraph (l) of this
section, to the designated Public Safety Answering Point.

[59 FR 18495, Apr. 19, 1994, as amended at 61
FR 38637, July 25, 1996; 63 FR 43040, Aug. 11,
1998; 65 FR 19685, Apr. 12, 2000; 65 FR 24654,
Apr. 27, 2000; 66 FR 16879, Mar. 28, 2001; 69 FR
77938, Dec. 29, 2004]

§ 20.18 911 Service.
(a) Scope of section. The following requirements are only applicable to
Broadband Personal Communications
Services (part 24, subpart E of this
chapter), Cellular Radio Telephone
Service (part 22, subpart H of this chapter), and Geographic Area Specialized
Mobile Radio Services and Incumbent
Wide Area SMR Licensees in the 800
MHz and 900 MHz bands (included in
part 90, subpart S of this chapter) and
those entities that offer voice service
to consumers by purchasing airtime or
capacity at wholesale rates from these
licensees, collectively CMRS providers.
In addition, service providers in these
enumerated services are subject to the
following requirements solely to the
extent that they offer real-time, two
way switched voice service that is
interconnected
with
the
public
switched network and utilize an in-network switching facility which enables
the provider to reuse frequencies and
accomplish seamless hand-offs of subscriber calls.
(b) Basic 911 Service. CMRS providers
subject to this section must transmit
all wireless 911 calls without respect to
their call validation process to a Public Safety Answering Point, or, where
no Public Safety Answering Point has
been designated, to a designated statewide default answering point or appropriate local emergency authority pursuant to § 64.3001 of this chapter, provided that ‘‘all wireless 911 calls’’ is defined as ‘‘any call initiated by a wireless user dialing 911 on a phone using a

NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (d): With respect to 911
calls accessing their systems through the use
of TTYs, licensees subject to this section
must comply with the requirements in paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2) of this section, as to
calls made using a digital wireless system, as
of October 1, 1998.

(e) Phase II enhanced 911 service. Licensees subject to this section must
provide to the designated Public Safety
Answering Point Phase II enhanced 911
service, i.e., the location of all 911 calls
by longitude and latitude in conformance with Phase II accuracy requirements (see paragraph (h) of this section).
(f) Phase-in for network-based location
technologies. Licensees subject to this
section who employ a network-based
location technology shall provide
Phase II 911 enhanced service to at
least 50 percent of their coverage area
or 50 percent of their population beginning October 1, 2001, or within 6 months
of a PSAP request, whichever is later;

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Federal Communications Commission

§ 20.18

and to 100 percent of their coverage
area or 100 percent of their population
within 18 months of such a request or
by October 1, 2002, whichever is later.
(g) Phase-in for handset-based location
technologies. Licensees subject to this
section who employ a handset-based location technology may phase in deployment of Phase II enhanced 911
service, subject to the following requirements:
(1) Without respect to any PSAP request for deployment of Phase II 911
enhanced service, the licensee shall:
(i) Begin selling and activating location-capable handsets no later than October 1, 2001;
(ii) Ensure that at least 25 percent of
all new handsets activated are location-capable no later than December
31, 2001;
(iii) Ensure that at least 50 percent of
all new handsets activated are location-capable no later than June 30,
2002; and
(iv) Ensure that 100 percent of all
new digital handsets activated are location-capable no later than December
31, 2002, and thereafter.
(v) By December 31, 2005, achieve 95
percent penetration of location-capable
handsets among its subscribers.
(vi) Licensees that meet the enhanced 911 compliance obligations
through GPS-enabled handsets and
have commercial agreements with resellers will not be required to include
the resellers’ handset counts in their
compliance percentages.
(2) Once a PSAP request is received,
the licensee shall, in the area served by
the PSAP, within six months or by October 1, 2001, whichever is later:
(i) Install any hardware and/or software in the CMRS network and/or
other fixed infrastructure, as needed,
to enable the provision of Phase II enhanced 911 service; and
(ii) Begin delivering Phase II enhanced 911 service to the PSAP.
(3) For all 911 calls from portable or
mobile phones that do not contain the
hardware and/or software needed to enable the licensee to provide Phase II
enhanced 911 service, the licensee shall,
after a PSAP request is received, support, in the area served by the PSAP,
Phase I location for 911 calls or other
available best practice method of pro-

viding the location of the portable or
mobile phone to the PSAP.
(4) Licensees employing handsetbased location technologies shall ensure that location-capable portable or
mobile phones shall conform to industry interoperability standards designed
to enable the location of such phones
by multiple licensees.
(h) Phase II accuracy. Licensees subject to this section shall comply with
the following standards for Phase II location accuracy and reliability:
(1) For network-based technologies:
100 meters for 67 percent of calls, 300
meters for 95 percent of calls;
(2) For handset-based technologies: 50
meters for 67 percent of calls, 150 meters for 95 percent of calls.
(3) For the remaining 5 percent of
calls, location attempts must be made
and a location estimate for each call
must be provided to the appropriate
PSAP.
(i) Reports on Phase II plans. Licensees subject to this section shall report
to the Commission their plans for implementing Phase II enhanced 911 service, including the location-determination technology they plan to employ
and the procedure they intend to use to
verify conformance with the Phase II
accuracy requirements by November 9,
2000. Licensees are required to update
these plans within thirty days of the
adoption of any change. These reports
and updates may be filed electronically
in a manner to be designated by the
Commission.
(j) Conditions for enhanced 911 services.
(1) Generally. The requirements set
forth in paragraphs (d) through (h) of
this section shall be applicable only if
the administrator of the designated
Public Safety Answering Point has requested the services required under
those paragraphs and the Public Safety
Answering Point is capable of receiving
and utilizing the data elements associated with the service and a mechanism
for recovering the Public Safety Answering Point’s costs of the enhanced
911 service is in place.
(2) Commencement of six-month period.
(i) Except as provided in paragraph (ii)
of this section, for purposes of commencing the six-month period for carrier implementation specified in paragraphs (d), (f) and (g) of this section, a

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§ 20.18

47 CFR Ch. I (10–1–05 Edition)

PSAP will be deemed capable of receiving and utilizing the data elements associated with the service requested, if
it can demonstrate that it has:
(A) Ordered the necessary equipment
and has commitments from suppliers
to have it installed and operational
within such six-month period; and
(B) Made a timely request to the appropriate local exchange carrier for the
necessary trunking, upgrades, and
other facilities.
(ii) For purposes of commencing the
six-month period for carrier implementation specified in paragraphs (f) and
(g) of this section, a PSAP that is
Phase I-capable using a Non-Call Path
Associated Signaling (NCAS) technology will be deemed capable of receiving and utilizing the data elements
associated with Phase II service if it
can demonstrate that it has made a
timely request to the appropriate local
exchange carrier for the ALI database
upgrade necessary to receive the Phase
II information.
(3) Tolling of six-month period. Where a
wireless carrier has served a written
request for documentation on the
PSAP within 15 days of receiving the
PSAP’s request for Phase I or Phase II
enhanced 911 service, and the PSAP
fails to respond to such request within
15 days of such service, the six-month
period for carrier implementation specified in paragraphs (d), (f), and (g) of
this section will be tolled until the
PSAP provides the carrier with such
documentation.
(4) Carrier certification regarding PSAP
readiness issues. At the end of the sixmonth period for carrier implementation specified in paragraphs (d), (f) and
(g) of this section, a wireless carrier
that believes that the PSAP is not capable of receiving and utilizing the
data elements associated with the service requested may file a certification
with the Commission. Upon filing and
service of such certification, the carrier may suspend further implementation efforts, except as provided in paragraph (j)(4)(x) of this section.
(i) As a prerequisite to filing such
certification, no later than 21 days
prior to such filing, the wireless carrier
must notify the affected PSAP, in writing, of its intent to file such certification. Any response that the carrier

receives from the PSAP must be included with the carrier’s certification
filing.
(ii) The certification process shall be
subject to the procedural requirements
set forth in sections 1.45 and 1.47 of this
chapter.
(iii) The certification must be in the
form of an affidavit signed by a director or officer of the carrier, documenting:
(A) The basis for the carrier’s determination that the PSAP will not be
ready;
(B) Each of the specific steps the carrier has taken to provide the E911 service requested;
(C) The reasons why further implementation efforts cannot be made until
the PSAP becomes capable of receiving
and utilizing the data elements associated with the E911 service requested;
and
(D) The specific steps that remain to
be completed by the wireless carrier
and, to the extent known, the PSAP or
other parties before the carrier can
provide the E911 service requested.
(iv) All affidavits must be correct.
The carrier must ensure that its affidavit is correct, and the certifying director or officer has the duty to personally determine that the affidavit is
correct.
(v) A carrier may not engage in a
practice of filing inadequate or incomplete certifications for the purpose of
delaying its responsibilities.
(vi) To be eligible to make a certification, the wireless carrier must have
completed all necessary steps toward
E911 implementation that are not dependent on PSAP readiness.
(vii) A copy of the certification must
be served on the PSAP in accordance
with § 1.47 of this chapter. The PSAP
may challenge in writing the accuracy
of the carrier’s certification and shall
serve a copy of such challenge on the
carrier. See §§ 1.45 and 1.47 and §§ 1.720
through 1.736 of this chapter.
(viii) If a wireless carrier’s certification is facially inadequate, the sixmonth implementation period specified
in paragraphs (d), (f) and (g) of this section will not be suspended as provided
for in paragraph (j)(4) of this section.

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Federal Communications Commission

§ 20.18

(ix) If a wireless carrier’s certification is inaccurate, the wireless carrier will be liable for noncompliance as
if the certification had not been filed.
(x) A carrier that files a certification
under paragraph (j)(4) of this section
shall have 90 days from receipt of the
PSAP’s written notice that it is capable of receiving and utilizing the data
elements associated with the service
requested to provide such service in accordance with the requirements of
paragraphs (d) through (h) of this section.
(5) Modification of deadlines by agreement. Nothing in this section shall prevent Public Safety Answering Points
and carriers from establishing, by mutual consent, deadlines different from
those imposed for carrier and PSAP
compliance in paragraphs (d), (f), and
(g)(2) of this section.
(k) Dispatch service. A service provider covered by this section who offers
dispatch service to customers may
meet the requirements of this section
with respect to customers who utilize
dispatch service either by complying
with the requirements set forth in
paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section, or by routing the customer’s
emergency calls through a dispatcher.
If the service provider chooses the latter alternative, it must make every
reasonable effort to explicitly notify
its current and potential dispatch customers and their users that they are
not able to directly reach a PSAP by
calling 911 and that, in the event of an
emergency, the dispatcher should be
contacted.
(l) Non-service-initialized handsets. (1)
Licensees subject to this section that
donate
a
non-service-initialized
handset for purposes of providing access to 911 services are required to:
(i) Program each handset with 911
plus the decimal representation of the
seven least significant digits of the
Electronic
Serial
Number,
International Mobile Equipment Identifier,
or any other identifier unique to that
handset;
(ii) Affix to each handset a label
which is designed to withstand the
length of service expected for a nonservice-initialized phone, and which
notifies the user that the handset can
only be used to dial 911, that the 911 op-

erator will not be able to call the user
back, and that the user should convey
the exact location of the emergency as
soon as possible; and
(iii) Institute a public education program to provide the users of such
handsets with information regarding
the
limitations
of
non-serviceinitialized handsets.
(2)
Manufacturers
of
911-only
handsets that are manufactured on or
after May 3, 2004, are required to:
(i) Program each handset with 911
plus the decimal representation of the
seven least significant digits of the
Electronic
Serial
Number,
International Mobile Equipment Identifier,
or any other identifier unique to that
handset;
(ii) Affix to each handset a label
which is designed to withstand the
length of service expected for a nonservice-initialized phone, and which
notifies the user that the handset can
only be used to dial 911, that the 911 operator will not be able to call the user
back, and that the user should convey
the exact location of the emergency as
soon as possible; and
(iii) Institute a public education program to provide the users of such
handsets with information regarding
the limitations of 911-only handsets.
(3) Definitions. The following definitions apply for purposes of this paragraph.
(i) Non-service-initialized handset. A
handset for which there is no valid
service contract with a provider of the
services enumerated in paragraph (a) of
this section.
(ii) 911-only handset. A non-serviceinitialized handset that is manufactured with the capability of dialing 911
only and that cannot receive incoming
calls.
(m) Reseller obligation. (1) Beginning
December 31, 2006, resellers have an obligation, independent of the underlying
licensee, to provide access to basic and
enhanced 911 service to the extent that
the underlying licensee of the facilities
the reseller uses to provide access to
the public switched network complies
with sections 20.18(d)–(g).
(2) Resellers have an independent obligation to ensure that all handsets or
other devices offered to their customers for voice communications and

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§ 20.19

47 CFR Ch. I (10–1–05 Edition)
tional Standard for Methods of Measurement of Compatibility between
Wireless Communication Devices and
Hearing Aids, ANSI C63.19–2001’’ (published October 8, 2001—available for
purchase from the American National
Standards Institute).
(3) Manufacturers must certify compliance with the test requirements and
indicate the appropriate U-rating for
the wireless phone as set forth in
§ 2.1033(d) of this chapter.
(4) All factual questions of whether a
wireless phone meets the technical
standard of this subsection shall be referred for resolution to Chief, Office of
Engineering and Technology, Federal
Communications Commission, 445 12th
Street SW., Washington, DC 20554.
(c) Phase-in for public mobile service
handsets concerning radio frequency interference. (1) Each manufacturer of
handsets used with public mobile services for use in the United States or imported for use in the United States
must:
(i) Offer to service providers at least
two handset models for each air interface
offered
that
comply
with
§ 20.19(b)(1) by September 16, 2005; and
(ii) Ensure at least 50 percent of their
handset offerings for each air interface
offered comply with § 20.19(b)(1) by February 18, 2008.
(2) And each provider of public mobile radio services must:
(i)(A) Include in its handset offerings
at least two handset models per air
interface that comply with § 20.19(b)(1)
by September 16, 2005, and make available in each retail store owned or operated by the provider all of these
handset models for consumers to test
in the store; or
(B) In the event a provider of public
mobile radio services is using a TDMA
air interface and plans to overbuild
(i.e., replace) its network to employ alternative air interface(s), it must:
(1) Offer two handset models that
comply with § 20.19(b)(1) by September
16, 2005, to its customers that receive
service from the overbuilt (i.e., nonTDMA) portion of its network, and
make available in each retail store it
owns or operates all of these handset
models for consumers to test in the
store:

sold after December 31, 2006 are capable
of transmitting enhanced 911 information to the appropriate PSAP, in accordance with the accuracy requirements of section 20.18(i).
[63 FR 2637, Jan. 16, 1998, as amended at 64
FR 60130, Nov. 4, 1999; 64 FR 72956, Dec. 29,
1999; 65 FR 58661, Oct. 2, 2000; 65 FR 82295,
Dec. 28, 2000; 66 FR 55623, Nov. 2, 2001; 67 FR
1648, Jan. 14, 2002; 67 FR 36117, May 23, 2002;
68 FR 2918, Jan. 22, 2003; 69 FR 2519, Jan. 16,
2004; 69 FR 6581, Feb. 11, 2004]
EFFECTIVE DATE NOTE: At 68 FR 2918, Jan.
22, 2003, § 20.18, paragraph (j) was revised.
Paragraphs (j)(4) and (5) contain information
collection and recordkeeping requirements
and will not become effective until approval
has been given by the Office of Management
and Budget.

§ 20.19 Hearing aid-compatible mobile
handsets.
(a) Scope of section. This section is applicable to providers of Broadband Personal Communications Services (part
24, subpart E of this chapter), Cellular
Radio Telephone Service (part 22, subpart H of this chapter), and Specialized
Mobile Radio Services in the 800 MHz
and 900 MHz bands (included in part 90,
subpart S of this chapter) if such providers
offer
real-time,
two-way
switched voice or data service that is
interconnected
with
the
public
switched network and utilizes an innetwork switching facility that enables
the provider to reuse frequencies and
accomplish seamless hand-offs of subscriber calls. This section also applies
to the manufacturers of the wireless
phones used in delivery of these services.
(b) Technical standard for hearing aid
compatibility. A wireless phone used for
public mobile radio services is hearing
aid compatible for the purposes of this
section if it meets, at a minimum:
(1) For radio frequency interference:
U3 as set forth in the standard document ANSI C63.19–2001 ‘‘American National Standard for Methods of Measurement of Compatibility between
Wireless Communication Devices and
Hearing Aids, ANSI C63.19–2001’’ (published October 8, 2001—available for
purchase from the American National
Standards Institute); and
(2) For inductive coupling: U3T rating as set forth in the standard document ANSI C63.19–2001 ‘‘American Na-

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