FCC orders Internet phone carriers to provide 911

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Regulators on Thursday ordered Internet telephone carriers to provide full 911 emergency calling services later this year, after hearing emotional testimony from customers who were unable to get immediate help during life-threatening crises.

The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to require that Internet telephone carriers ensure 911 calls from Internet phones will reach live emergency dispatchers instead of administrative lines. In addition, the carriers will have to provide callers' numbers and addresses.

The FCC approved the order at an open meeting after hearing from families who blamed the biggest Internet phone carrier, Vonage Holdings Corp., for trouble they had reaching 911 operators when they used its service to call for help.

When her infant daughter stopped breathing, Cheryl Waller dialed 911 with her Vonage Internet phone. But she got a recording telling her to hang up and dial 911 if it was an emergency. The baby died minutes later.

"This situation is simply unacceptable," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said. "Anyone who dials 911 has a reasonable expectation that he or she will be connected to an emergency operator."

There are more than 1 million customers who use Internet phones, known as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), in the United States. Telephone and cable carriers are rolling it out because it is cheaper for both subscribers and the providers.

The requirements will likely go into force in October, 120 days after the FCC's order is listed in the Federal Register.

In most cases, calls to 911 with traditional phones go to live dispatchers who see the address and number of the caller on a computer screen. But that does not always happen with VOIP calls, which begin on high-speed Internet connections.

Complicating the issue, some VOIP customers can use area codes different from their actual locations, and many can use their service from multiple, far-flung locations. That can make determining a caller's location difficult.

REACHING A 911 DISPATCHER

Under the new rules, providers would have to provide the 911 services regardless of whether customers use VOIP in a single location or multiple places.

Initially, customers will be responsible for informing VOIP providers when they change locations, but the FCC eventually wants a VOIP caller's location to be determined automatically.

Additionally, the agency ordered providers to inform new and current customers about the limitations and capabilities of their services.

But one group said the agency overstepped its authority.

"However well intentioned, today's FCC ruling seems to test the outer limits of the FCC's jurisdiction," said Harris Miller, president of Information Technology Association of America.

The mother whose baby died complained that Vonage's warnings about limited 911 service were inadequate.

"While 120 days is a reasonable number of days to compel compliance, 120 days is 120 days too many to continue to allow these companies to advertise a life-dependent service that they admittedly do not provide," she said, fighting back tears.

The FCC also required the four big U.S. local telephone companies, known as the Baby Bells, to provide requesting telephone carriers access to equipment that would easily route calls to the appropriate 911 emergency call centers.

However, the agency did not specify the terms for such access. Vonage has been negotiating with the Bell networks and said it has reached a variety of agreements for access.

"We've been trying to get enhanced 911 support in our network for two years, and we've now got the opportunity to get this done on an extraordinary quick time frame, which is exactly what we've been trying to achieve," said Chris Murray, a Vonage representative.

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thank god they are fixing this