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On Dec. 12, 2001 the FCC issued a 45-page Fifth Report & Order on 911, which adds to their previous rules:

• Adopt a maximum period, generally ending nine months after the release of this Order, for carriers to transition to routing 911 calls to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in areas where one has been designated or, in areas where a PSAP has not yet been designated, either to an existing statewide established default point, if one exists, or, if not, to an appropriate local emergency authority;
• Address steps the Commission will take to encourage and support States in their efforts to develop and implement end-to-end emergency communications infrastructure and programs for the improved delivery of emergency services to the public; and,
• Clarify that VHF Public Coast Station (VPC) licensees are not required to use 911 dialing for accessing emergency services to the extent that they are providing maritime services.

  from http://www.911dispatch.com/911_file/fifth_ro.html

Click here for the details in a  PDF file

So much for emergencies 
Portable Design Magazine  June 2001
http://pd.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=Articles&Subsection=Display&ARTICLE_ID=104161&KEYWORD=emergencies

Carriers essentially have three technologies for implementing E-911, and one of them may just barely meet the FCC's deadline for getting into service.

Ron Schneiderman, Contributing Editor, Wireless Technologies

Skyaid Summary: Three technologies are trying to meet the FCC-US E911 location requirement deadline for cell-phones.  It appears doubtful that any will. The LifeWatch ->Skyaid Watch will not require the E911 capability.  No indication of what, if anything, is happening elsewhere around the world.

Privacy isn't an important issue when you're in trouble and you actually want someone to find you. In the case of the FCC's E-911 initiative, the issue is technology, and it may actually delay some carriers' ability to locate people in emergencies.

With more than 118,000 calls a day made in the U.S. to 911 and other emergency numbers from wireless phones, it's getting more attention.

The current FCC E-911 rules were adopted in 1996 and reflected the technology available at the time, which anticipated only a network-based approach called automatic location identification (ALI). Now, with Phase I of the FCC ruling completed, emergency response centers are receiving the location of the cell tower used for incoming E-911 calls, and the FCC has shifted to its Phase II rules, which have already been revised.

Under the new rules, wireless carriers who employ a Phase II location technology with new, modified, or upgraded cell phones were required to begin activating and selling them no later than March 1, 2001. At least half of these handsets are to be ALI-capable by October 1, 2001. Also, at least 95% of all new digital phones must be ALI-enabled and activated for this service by October 1, 2002. It's not clear at this point whether or not any of this will actually happen by the October deadlines.

For network-based E-911 solutions, the revised FCC rules call for carriers to achieve 100-m accuracy for 67% of mobile emergency calls and 300-m accuracy for 95% of all of these calls. Carriers going the handset route, which is more accurate and reliable, must demonstrate an accuracy of 50 m for 67% of its emergency calls and 150 m for 95% of those calls.

Several carriers have already informed the FCC that they have opted for a handset-based E-911 system, which means using a satellite-based global positioning system (GPS). These include Sprint PCS, Alltel, U.S. Cellular, and Nextel Communications. Others, including Verizon and Western Wireless, plan to use a network-based system.

Most of the carriers selecting the network scenario favor a combination of time difference of arrival (TDOA), which calculates a phone's position based on the speed the signal reaches multiple nearby antennas, and angle of arrival (AOA). With AOA, cellular towers identify the direction from which a signal is coming and then plot the direction of the incoming call based on a reading from two towers.

Then there's a hybrid system known as enhanced observed time difference (EOTD). The major supplier of EOTD technology, which only works with GSM terminals, is U.K.-based Cambridge Positioning Systems. CPS's Cursor software doesn't require any hardware modification to the handset, provided that there's sufficient free RAM. Some low-level reprogramming in the DSP is necessary, however, as well as some additional software in the microprocessor. This "off-the-shelf" solution is available from CPS on a licensed royalty basis. The portion of Cursor that runs on the handset microprocessor is optimized for ARM, reducing power consumption as well as the overall system cost for OEMs.

VoiceStream, the largest GSM operator in the U.S., and AT&T Wireless intend to use EOTD, which claims an accuracy of 50 m with GSM networks.

A TDMA carrier, AT&T Wireless recently completed a TDOA/AOA network overlay trial with several other TDMA service providers. But unlike the others (so far, at least), AT&T is adding GSM to its network as part of its migration to the third generation (3G), and has told the FCC that it will implement EOTD in its GSM network. AT&T has already asked its GSM infrastructure vendors to deliver its equipment with EOTD installed. If AT&T decides to go with EOTD in its TDMA network, it will have to request another waiver from the FCC.

Most surveys indicate that GPS will prevail for E-911 services, but with no GPS-based phones to sell, some of the "handset carriers," like Nextel Communications, have already requested extensions.

"Carriers like GPS mainly because of its accuracy," says Kanwar Chadha, vice president of SiRF Technology, which recently demonstrated various "location-aware" wireless devices. In addition to E-911 service, Chadha says that GPS offers other features and applications for handset subscribers, some of which can help carriers offset the cost of acquiring new GPS-equipped phones.

"The added advantage of this system," says Francesca Mabarak, a senior analyst with The Yankee Group, "is that it gives carriers a head start on providing its customers with a wide array of location-based services." These include navigation data, area-specific weather forecasts, traffic reports, and commercial tracking services, as well as a range of entertainment applications and bulletin boards.

Compaq has partnered with SignalSoft, Wireless Facilities, and SnapTrack to come up with an E-911 solution with location-based service for their carrier customers. Called the Compaq Discovery Location System, it supports Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem IC-based gpsOne position-location handsets. (SnapTrack is a Qualcomm subsidiary.) Qualcomm says gpsOne-based handsets will be available just in time to make the FCC's October 1 deadline through Sprint PCS and other U.S. carriers. Compaq says it will provide "one-stop shopping" for carriers with service and support for deploying its system in their networks.

As far as law enforcement and other emergency service agencies are concerned, the carriers aren't moving fast enough. The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) has been punching out news releases on vehicular deaths across the country that might have been avoided if the caller's location could have been determined by a public safety answering point (PSAP). At least 25 public safety organizations have written to carriers urging them to provide E-911 service as soon as possible. APCO has also initiated Project Locate to help PSAPs request Phase II services from cellular carriers.

The FCC has also made it clear that a wireless carrier's obligation to provide wireless E-911 is not contingent on a "cost-recovery" mechanism being in place to help defray the carrier's cost of compliance. Carriers must comply with FCC rules with or without a cost-recovery plan.

Eventually, everyone will have a phone with access to some kind of E-911 service. With carriers pushing new revenue-generating location-based services, let's hope we don't get into a situation where someone tries to call in an accident and an automated voice recognition system sends them to the wrong location.