As the FCC’s deadline for Phase II of its mandate to pinpoint 911 callers using cell phones fast approaches, some carriers are lobbying to extend the deadline. Citing difficulties in implementing the technology, carriers such as AT&T Wireless, Nextel Communications, and VoiceStream have files waivers.

Beginning in 1998, the FCC adopted rules for 911 calls, which were to be implemented in two phases. Phase I required carriers to add equipment to supply dispatch call centers with the number of incoming callers. Even though the equipment provided a general origination area of calls, based on which cell towers receives the signal, it is far from being precise. Phase II addresses the problem of accuracy, requiring new systems to locate calls within 100 meters two-thirds of the time and within 300 meters 95 percent of the time.

Two years ago, the FCC gave the carriers a choice of which technology to use: add equipment to triangulate the positions of 911 callers or issue new phones that include chips embedded with GPS technology, by which a series of satellites pinpoint the location of the caller. With the option, came more stringent requirements for GPS approach: callers had to be located within 50 meters two-thirds of the time and 150 meters 95 percent of the time.

However, to-date carriers have cited less than satisfactory results in large-scale tests of their network systems, while others are complaining that suppliers are not producing the required phones. By the end of this year, 25 percent of a carrier’s phones must be GPS-enabled.

With over 45-million emergency calls last year, organizations such as the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials along with emergency communication centers are saying that carriers are dragging their heels as they ‘don’t want’ to spend the money to make the necessary improvements.

"Our systems are being inundated with these calls, and all we can do is sit there helplessly," said William Hinkle, with the Hamilton County Emergency Communications Center in Cincinnati.

Depending on the FCC’s response, dispatch centers and emergency service organizations will more than likely have to continue to wait. According to James Schlichting, deputy bureau chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, it’s too early to predict how the FCC will respond if carriers are not ready to locate wireless emergency calls beginning October 1. He added that the agency could decide to impose fines on the carriers.