FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

May 19, 2005 Mark Wigfield, 202-418-0253

Email: <mark.wigfield@fcc.gov>

**Commission Requires Interconnected VoIP Providers to Provide Enhanced
911 Service**

> ***Order Ensures VoIP Customers Have Access to Emergency Services***

Washington, D.C. -- The Federal Communications Commission today took
steps to protect consumers by requiring that certain providers of voice
over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone service supply enhanced 911 (E911)
emergency calling capabilities to their customers as a mandatory feature
of the service.

The IP-enabled services marketplace is the latest new frontier of our
nation's communications landscape, and the Commission is committed to
allowing IP-enabled services to evolve without undue regulation. But
E911 service is critical to our nation's ability to respond to a host of
crises. The Commission hopes to minimize the likelihood of situations
like recent incidents in which users of interconnected VoIP dialed 911
but were not able to reach emergency operators. Today's Order represents
a balanced approach that takes into consideration the expectations of
consumers, the need to strengthen Americans' ability to access public
safety in times of crisis, and the needs of entities offering these
innovative services.

The Order places obligations on interconnected VoIP service providers
that are similar to traditional telephone providers in that they enable
customers to receive calls from and terminate calls to the public
switched telephone network (PSTN). It does not place obligations on
other IP-based service providers, such as those that provide instant
messaging or Internet gaming services, because although these services
may contain a voice component, customers of these services cannot
receive calls from and place calls to the PSTN. The Order adopted today
reaches the following conclusions:

> • Interconnected VoIP providers must deliver all 911 calls to the
> customer's local emergency operator. This must be a standard, rather
> than optional, feature of the service.
>
> • Interconnected VoIP providers must provide emergency operators with
> the call back number and location information of their customers
> (i.e., E911) where the emergency operator is capable of receiving it.
> Although the customer must provide the location information, the VoIP
> provider must provide the customer a means of updating this
> information, whether he or she is at home or away from home.
>
> • By the effective date, interconnected VoIP providers must inform
> their customers, both new and existing, of the E911 capabilities and
> limitations of their service.
>
> • The incumbent LECs are required to provide access to their E911
> networks to any requesting telecommunications carrier. They must
> continue to provide access to trunks, selective routers, and E911
> databases to competing carriers. The Commission will closely monitor
> this obligation.

Interconnected VoIP providers must comply with these requirements, and
submit to the Commission a letter detailing such compliance, no later
than 120 days after the effective date of the Order.

Finally, the Commission stated its intention to adopt, in a future
order, an advanced E911 solution that includes a method for determining
the customer's location without the customer having to self report this
information.

Action by the Commission May 19, 2005, by First Report and Order and
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 05-116). Chairman Martin,
Commissioners Abernathy, Copps, and Adelstein, Chairman Martin,
Commissioners Abernathy, Copps, and Adelstein issuing separate
statements.

WC Docket Nos. 04-36, 05-196

Wireline Competition Bureau Staff Contact: Christi Shewman, (202)
418-1686.

-FCC-

News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found

on the Commission's web site [www.fcc.gov](http://www.fcc.gov/).