On April 14, 2021, the FCC published in the Federal Register notice that the FCC received approval from the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for various information collections associated with the Wireless E911 Location Accuracy Requirements Sixth Report and Order. The following provisions have been approved and are effective, and compliance is required as of April 14, 2021:
- Section 9.10(i)(2)(ii)(J)(4) (Vertical Location) which states that a CMRS provider has met its z-axis technology deployment obligation so long as it has either pre-installed or affirmatively pushed the location technology to end users so that they receive a prompt or notice informing them that the application or service is available and what they need to do to download and enable the technology on their phone, even if the end user declines to use the technology or subsequently disables it. This is a new rule adopted by the Commission in the Sixth Report and Order.
- Section 9.10(i)(4)(iv) (Dispatchable Location Use Certification) and (v) (Z-axis Use Certification) which contain certification requirements that were previously adopted by the FCC and approved by OMB. In the Sixth Report and Order, the FCC modified these rules to remove references to the National Emergency Address Database (“NEAD”), which CMRS providers no longer have access to. As a reminder, these rules require CMRS providers to certify, prior to using dispatchable location information and z-axis information, that neither they nor any third party they rely on to obtain this location information will use the location information or associated data for any non-911 purpose without express consent or otherwise as required by law. They also must certify they will implement measures to safeguard the privacy and security of this information.
- Section 9.10(j)(4) (Confidence and Uncertainty Data) which requires providers to supply confidence and uncertainty (“C/U”) information related to dispatchable location. The FCC previously adopted –and OMB previously approved – this rule, which requires providers to provide C/U information for wireless E911 calls that have dispatcahble location or z-axis information; in the Sixth Report and Order, the FCC revised the rule to require that where floor-level information is available to CMRS providers, they must provide C/U data for the z-axis information included with such floor-level information.
- Section 9.10(k) (Provision of Live 911 Call Data for PSAPs) which requires CMRS providers to record information on all live 911 calls, including the positioning source method used to provide a location fix associated with the call and the confidence and uncertainty data. This information must be provided to PSAPs upon request and retained for two years. This rule was previously adopted in the Fourth Report and Order and OMB approval was obtained; the Sixth Report and Order amended the rule to explicitly extend the C/U data requirement for dispatchable location and floor-level information, as well as for z-axis information.
For additional information please see previous blog post FCC Publishes Corrected E911 Z-Axis Report and Final Rule in Federal Register
Please Contact Us if you have any questions.