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Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
)
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. ) File No. EB-02-TS-002
)
)
ORDER
Adopted: May 23, 2003 Released: May 23,
2003
By the Chief, Enforcement Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In this Order, we address a request filed by AT&T
Wireless Services, Inc. (``AT&T Wireless'') to clarify or
modify the December 31, 2002 benchmark set forth in the
consent decree adopting a schedule for deployment of
enhanced 911 (``E911'') Phase II service by AT&T Wireless on
its Time Division Multiple Access (``TDMA'') network.1 For
the reasons that follow, we conclude that AT&T Wireless
satisfied the December 31, 2002 benchmark.
II. BACKGROUND
2. Under Phase II of the FCC's wireless E911
rules, wireless carriers are required to provide to the
designated Public Safety Answering Point (``PSAP'') the
location of wireless 911 callers, a capability known as
Automatic Location Identification (``ALI''), using handset-
based or network-based location technologies.2 The rules
provide that handset-based location technologies must
provide the location of wireless 911 calls with an accuracy
of 50 meters for 67 percent of calls and 150 meters for 95
percent of calls.3 Carriers using a handset-based solution
must meet certain interim benchmarks for activating handsets
with location capability,4 and must ensure that 95 percent
of their customers have location-capable handsets no later
than December 31, 2005.5 For carriers choosing a network-
based solution, the rules provide that the technology must
report the location of wireless 911 calls with an accuracy
of 100 meters for 67 percent of calls and 300 meters for 95
percent of calls.6 A carrier using a network-based solution
must provide ALI to 50 percent of its coverage area, or 50
percent of its population, beginning on October 1, 2001 or
within six months of a PSAP request, whichever is later, and
to 100 percent of callers within 18 months of that request
or by October 1, 2002, whichever is later.
3. On June 12, 2002, the Commission adopted a
consent decree terminating an Enforcement Bureau
investigation into whether AT&T Wireless was in compliance
with the E911 Phase II rules with respect to its TDMA
network.7 Pursuant to the consent decree, AT&T Wireless
agreed to a specific timeline for deployment of a network-
based location technology on its TDMA network. Paragraph
12(a)(2) of the consent decree required AT&T Wireless to
deploy a Phase II compliant technology at a minimum of 2,000
cell sites and provide Phase II service at all these sites
by December 31, 2002.8 AT&T Wireless is subject to a
$300,000 automatic penalty if it fails to meet this
benchmark.9
4. On December 24, 2002, AT&T Wireless filed a
request to clarify or modify the December 31, 2002
benchmark.10 In this request, AT&T Wireless indicated that
it deployed Phase II technology at 2,605 cell sites by
December 31, 2002, but was not providing Phase II location
information to PSAPs at the minimum required 2,000 cell
sites by December 31, 2002. Specifically, AT&T Wireless
stated, as of December 31, 2002, it was providing Phase II
location information to PSAPs served by 1,168 of the 2,605
cell sites at which it had deployed Phase II technology.
AT&T Wireless asserted that the 116 PSAPs associated with
the remaining 1,437 cell sites at which it had deployed
Phase II technology were not ready to receive and utilize
Phase II data by December 31, 2002. Although these 116
PSAPs were not ready to receive and utilize Phase II data,
AT&T Wireless stated that it conducted ``short testing''
with these PSAPs to confirm the operational readiness of
AT&T Wireless's network to deliver Phase II data.11 AT&T
Wireless seeks clarification that it is ``providing Phase II
service'' within the meaning of the consent decree when it
has taken all the steps necessary and possible to deliver
Phase II data to the PSAP and has conducted short tests to
confirm the operational readiness of the location system to
deliver Phase II data, even if the PSAP is unable or
unwilling to receive and utilize the data. In the
alternative, AT&T Wireless requests modification of the
December 31, 2002 benchmark to require either the completion
of short testing or the integration of Phase II service at a
minimum of 2,000 cell sites by December 31, 2002.
5. On January 7, 2003, at the request of the
Enforcement Bureau, AT&T Wireless submitted certifications
for the 116 PSAPs associated with the 1,437 cell sites
substantially consistent with the new rules adopted in the
City of Richardson Reconsideration Order.12 In response to
a request for additional information from the Enforcement
Bureau,13 AT&T Wireless subsequently supplemented its
certification filing.14 AT&T Wireless's certification
filing included letters from PSAP requesting entities
representing 112 PSAPs associated with 1,368 cell sites. In
these letters, the PSAPs acknowledge that they are not yet
ready to receive Phase II service for various reasons and
that AT&T Wireless completed all necessary steps towards
E911 implementation that are not dependent on PSAP
readiness. With respect to the remaining four PSAPs, which
are associated with 69 cell sites, AT&T Wireless certified
that it had completed all necessary steps towards E911
implementation that are not dependent on PSAP readiness and
documented the basis for its conclusion that the PSAPs are
not yet ready to receive and utilize Phase II service.15
III. DISCUSSION
6. In its request to clarify or modify the
December 31, 2002 benchmark, AT&T Wireless seeks
clarification that it is ``providing Phase II service''
within the meaning of the consent decree when it has taken
all the steps necessary and possible to deliver Phase II
data to the PSAP and has conducted short tests to confirm
the operational readiness of its location system to deliver
Phase II data, even if the PSAP is unable or unwilling to
receive and utilize the data. We deny this clarification
request. We think that it is clear that the requirement in
the consent decree that AT&T Wireless ``provide Phase II
service'' means that the carrier must fully integrate its
Phase II location system with the PSAP and begin delivering
Phase II location information to the PSAP, which is capable
of, and actually is, receiving the Phase II data.
7. Nevertheless, after reviewing the
certification filing submitted by AT&T Wireless, we conclude
that AT&T Wireless satisfied the December 31, 2002
benchmark, as modified by the rules adopted in the City of
Richardson Reconsideration Order. Under the new
certification process adopted in the City of Richardson
Reconsideration Order, a wireless carrier that has completed
all necessary steps towards E911 implementation that are not
dependent on PSAP readiness may have its E911 obligation
temporarily tolled if the PSAP is not ready to receive the
E911 information at the end of the six-month implementation
period and the carrier files a certification to that effect
with the Commission.16 The City of Richardson
Reconsideration Order explicitly states that deadlines to
complete PSAP requests for E911 service established in
consent decrees negotiated between the Commission and
particular carriers are subject to the certification
process.17
8. Paragraph 12(a)(2) of the consent decree
required AT&T Wireless to deploy a Phase II compliant
technology at a minimum of 2,000 cell sites on its TDMA
network and provide Phase II service at all these sites by
December 31, 2002. As of December 31, 2002, AT&T Wireless
had deployed Phase II technology at 2,605 cell sites and
fully integrated Phase II service at 1,168 of these cell
sites. AT&T Wireless asserts that the 116 PSAPs associated
with the remaining 1,437 cell sites at which it had deployed
Phase II technology were not ready to receive and utilize
Phase II location information by December 31, 2002. The
certification filing submitted by AT&T Wireless supports
this assertion. AT&T Wireless provided letters from PSAP
requesting entities representing 112 PSAPs associated with
1,368 cell sites. These PSAPs acknowledge that they are
not ready to receive and utilize Phase II service and that
AT&T Wireless completed all necessary steps towards E911
implementation that are independent of PSAP readiness. In
addition, with respect to the other four PSAPs, which are
associated with 69 cell sites, AT&T Wireless certified that
it completed all necessary steps towards E911 implementation
that are not dependent on PSAP readiness and documented the
basis for its conclusion that the PSAPs are not yet ready to
receive and utilize Phase II service. We find that AT&T
Wireless's certification filing substantially complies with
the certification process adopted in the City of Richardson
Reconsideration Order. Accordingly, we conclude that AT&T
Wireless satisfied the December 31, 2002 benchmark, as
modified by the rules adopted in the City of Richardson
Reconsideration Order.18
9. Finally, because we have concluded that AT&T
Wireless satisfied the December 31, 2002 benchmark, as
modified by the new certification rules, we need not address
its request to modify the benchmark. We therefore dismiss
the modification request as moot.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
10. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, that AT&T Wireless's
request to clarify or modify the December 31, 2002 benchmark
in the TDMA Consent Decree IS DENIED to the extent indicated
herein and IS otherwise DISMISSED as moot.
11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this
Order shall be sent by first class mail and certified mail
return receipt requested to Douglas I. Brandon, Vice
President, External Affairs and Law, AT&T Wireless Services,
Inc., Fourth Floor, 1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20036, and to Michelle M. Mundt, Esq., Mintz,
Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo, P.C., 701
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, D.C.
20004.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
David H. Solomon
Chief, Enforcement Bureau
_________________________
1 AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., 17 FCC Rcd 11510 (2002)
(``TDMA Consent Decree'').
2 See Revision of the Commission's Rules to Ensure
Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems,
CC Docket No. 94-102, Report and Order and Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, 11 FCC Rcd 18676 (1996); see also 47
C.F.R. § 20.18.
3 47 C.F.R. § 20.18(h)(2).
4 See e.g., Revision of the Commission's Rules to Ensure
Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems,
CC Docket No. 94-102, Request for Waiver by Verizon
Wireless, 16 FCC Rcd 18364 (2001) (``Verizon Phase II Wavier
Order); Wireless E911 Phase II Implementation Plan of Nextel
Communications, Inc., 16 FCC Rcd 18277 (2001) (``Nextel
Phase II Waiver Order''); Request for Waiver by Sprint
Spectrum L.P. d/b/a Sprint PCS, 16 FCC Rcd 18330 (2001)
(``Sprint Phase II Waiver Order'').
5 47 C.F.R. § 20.18(g).
6 47 C.F.R. § 20.18(h)(1).
7 TDMA Consent Decree, 17 FCC Rcd 11510.
8 Id. at 11514.
9 Id. at 11515.
10 AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. Request to Clarify or
Modify Benchmark, filed December 24, 2002.
11 AT&T Wireless explains that ``short testing'' means
that it and the PSAP connect their E911 systems to the
extent possible given the missing pieces on the PSAP side,
determine whether the voice path is routed to the correct
PSAP, and assess whether the AT&T Wireless network,
including the Wireless Location Service devices at the cell
sites, Position Determining Equipment, Mobile Switching
Center and the Intrado Service Control Point/ALI database,
are fully integrated and capable of providing Phase II data
for the applicable service area.
12 Revision of the Commission's Rules to Ensure
Compatibility with Enhanced 911 Emergency Calling Systems,
Petition of City of Richardson, Texas, Order on
Reconsideration, CC Docket No. 94-102, 17 FCC Rcd 24282
(2002) (``City of Richardson Reconsideration Order''),
petitions for recon. pending. Although the new rules
adopted in the City of Richardson Reconsideration Order had
not yet taken effect, the Enforcement Bureau requested that
AT&T Wireless submit these certifications in order to
evaluate fully its assertion that the 116 PSAPs are not
ready to receive and utilize Phase II data. Because the
rules were not in effect, certain procedural aspects of the
rules were not relevant here.
13 Letter from Joseph P. Casey, Chief, Technical and
Public Safety Division, Enforcement Bureau, to Douglas I.
Brandon, Vice President - External Affairs & Law, AT&T
Wireless Services, Inc. (February 3, 2003).
14 AT&T Wireless responded to the Enforcement Bureau's
request for additional information on February 19, 2003, and
supplemented its response on February 21, March 13, and
March 25, 2003.
15 AT&T Wireless indicated that these four PSAPs were not
ready to receive and utilize Phase II service due to delays
in completing necessary equipment upgrades. Two of the four
PSAPs have completed the equipment upgrades and are now
receiving Phase II location data from AT&T Wireless. The
other two PSAPs expect to complete their equipment upgrades
by April 2003.
16 City of Richardson Reconsideration Order, 17 FCC Rcd
at 24286-7.
17 Id. at 24287.
18 As set forth in the City of Richardson Reconsideration
Order, AT&T Wireless's certification filing temporarily
tolls its obligation to implement Phase II service with
respect to these 116 PSAPs. AT&T Wireless must begin
delivering Phase II service to each of these PSAPs within 90
days after the PSAP provides the carrier with written notice
that the PSAP is capable of receiving and utilizing Phase II
location data. Id. at 24287.