Nationwide implementation of E911 by local wireline telephone companies began in the 1970s; today, 99 percent of the population is covered by wireline 911 service. With wireline E911 service, emergency calls are automatically routed to the appropriate PSAP and the call taker receives the telephone number and street address of the caller. In 1996, FCC responded to the rising number of mobile telephone subscribers and the resulting increase in wireless 911 calls by adopting rules for wireless E911 that established a two-phase implementation approach for the wireless carriers and set deadlines for wireless carriers regarding their part in E911 deployment. FCC required that (1) by April 1998, or within 6 months of a request from a PSAP, wireless carriers be prepared to provide the PSAP with the wireless phone number of the caller and the location of the cell site receiving the 911 call (Phase I information); and (2) by October 2001, or within 6 months of receiving a request from a PSAP, wireless carriers be prepared to provide the PSAP with the geographic coordinates of the caller’s location with greater precision, generally within 50 to 300 meters (Phase II information). As shown in figure 1, the wireless carriers, local exchange carriers (LECs), and PSAPs must have appropriate equipment and interconnections for wireless E911 calls to be sent to and received by PSAPs with the caller’s location information. For example, wireless carriers must finance the implementation of a caller location solution and test their equipment to verify its accuracy. Local exchange carriers are generally responsible for ensuring that all the necessary connections between wireless carriers, PSAPs, and databases have been installed and are operating correctly. The original E911 system was designed to carry only the caller's telephone number with the call, and the associated fixed address was obtained from an established database. Wireless E911, however, requires more data items, and the mobile caller's location must be obtained during the call and delivered to the PSAP separately using additional data delivery capabilities. In order to translate the latitude and longitude location information into a street address, PSAPs usually must acquire and install mapping software. PSAPs may also need to acquire new computers to receive and display this information. Getting PSAPs the technology needed to receive wireless E911 location information is primarily a state and local responsibility because PSAPs serve an emergency response function that has traditionally fallen under state or local jurisdiction. FCC has no authority to set deadlines for the PSAPs’ readiness. The ENHANCE 911 Act of 2004 was enacted to coordinate 911 and E911 services at the federal, state, and local level; and to ensure that the taxes, fees, or charges imposed for enhancing 911 services are used only for the purposes for which the funds are collected. The act called for the creation of an E911 Implementation Coordination Office to improve E911 coordination and communication. This office will be operated jointly by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and will be housed at NHTSA. Although the office had not received an appropriation as of January 2006, a DOT official told us that NHTSA and NTIA are working together to delineate their respective responsibilities. The act also authorized matching federal grants for eligible state, local, and tribal entities for the deployment and operation of Phase II E911 services. The act requires applicants for a matching federal grant to certify that no portion of any designated state and local E911 funds are being obligated or expended for any purpose other than the purposes for which the funds are designated. The act authorized $250 million per year for matching grants for fiscal years 2005 through 2009. However, no funds were appropriated for these grants in 2005. Significant progress has been made in implementing wireless E911 services since our last report on this topic in November 2003. At that time, using data from NENA, we reported that nearly 65 percent of PSAPs nationwide had implemented Phase I wireless E911 services and 18 percent of PSAPs had implemented Phase II wireless E911 with at least one wireless carrier. Since that time, there has been a marked increase in both of these percentages. As of January 2006, NENA reports that nearly 80 percent of PSAPs nationwide had implemented Phase I wireless E911 services and 57 percent had implemented Phase II with at least one wireless carrier. At the county level, NENA reports that approximately 70 percent of counties nationwide have implemented Phase I wireless E911 services and 44 percent of the counties have implemented Phase II with at least one wireless carrier. According to NENA, many of the PSAPs that have implemented Phase I and Phase II are in areas that cover higher concentrations of people, and as a result, approximately 85 percent of the U.S. population is now covered by Phase I and nearly 69 percent by Phase II with at least one wireless carrier. See figure 2 for nationwide deployment of Phase I and II based on population coverage by state. Wash. Mont. N.Dk. Ore. Minn. Vt. S.Dk. Wi. N.Y. N.H. Mass. Wyo. Mich. P. Ner. R.I. Conn. N.J. Nev. Ill. Ind. Del. Clif. Colo. W.V. K. V. Mo. Ky. Md. D.C. N.C. Tenn. Ariz. Okl. N.Mex. Ark. S.C. Miss. Al. G. Tex. L. Fl. Wash. Mont. N.Dk. Ore. Minn. Vt. S.Dk. Wi. N.Y. N.H. Mass. Wyo. Mich. Ner. P. R.I. Conn. N.J. Nev. Ill. Ind. Del. Clif. Colo. W.V. K. V. Mo. Ky. Md. D.C. N.C. Tenn. Ariz. N.Mex. Okl. Ark. S.C. Miss. Al. G. Tex. L. Fl. While progress is being made in wireless E911 implementation, the estimates from state contacts indicate that no clear picture is emerging on when Phase II will be fully deployed nationwide. As noted earlier, FCC has no authority to set deadlines for PSAPs to implement wireless E911 services. As a result, there is no federal requirement for full wireless E911 implementation and states may or may not have set their own deadlines for implementation. In our survey of state E911 contacts, we asked respondents to provide us with an estimate of when they believed their state would have wireless Phase II service fully in place with at least one wireless carrier per PSAP. We found that state E911 contacts offered a wide range of estimated Phase II completion dates. As shown in figure 3, 10 of 44 state contacts who responded to our survey indicated that Phase II was already in place throughout their state. Eight state contacts noted that they would have Phase II in place for all of their PSAPs with at least one wireless carrier within a year. Thirteen state contacts provided a range of 1 to 5 years for Phase II to be implemented, with three state contacts responding that it would take more than 5 years. Furthermore, five state contacts noted that their state might never be 100 percent complete for Phase II service. For example, one state contact noted that four rural counties opted not to apply for state funding to implement wireless E911 and two of these counties have only decided to implement wireline E911. Contacts in five states had no basis to judge when Phase II would be in place in their states. Based on our survey results and NENA data, we found most states obtain E911 funds through state-mandated surcharges collected by wireless carriers from the carriers’ wireless subscribers. States have the discretion to determine how these funds will be managed and distributed. Some states allocate funds using a formula based approach, while others distribute the funds based on PSAP requests. According to our survey results, 35 states had established written criteria on the allowable uses of E911 funds. Examples of allowable uses for the funds included the purchase of equipment upgrades, software packages, and training of personnel. At present, state and local governments determine how to pay for PSAP wireless E911 upgrades. We found, based on our survey results and NENA data, that 48 states and the District of Columbia collect surcharges to cover the costs of implementing wireless E911 (see fig. 4). For these states, funds are collected by wireless carriers from their subscribers. The other two states do not impose surcharges on wireless subscribers, but still have a wireless E911 funding mechanism in place. Specifically, the state E911 contact for Missouri told us that the state uses funds from the local general revenue, local 911 taxes, and wireline funds for E911 implementation; and the Vermont state E911 contact said the state uses funds from the state’s Universal Service Fund, which supports various telecommunications programs. For states that impose surcharges, the surcharge amount is usually established in state law. Responses to our survey indicated that the per-subscriber surcharges varied from state to state and ranged from $0.20 to $3.00 per month. We also found the surcharge amount could vary within a state. For example, one state has a maximum monthly surcharge amount of $1.50, and although most of the counties collect the maximum amount, several counties collect less than the maximum. Based on the responses to our survey, several states indicated that insufficient funding collected for wireless E911 was impeding the state’s ability to implement this service. We heard from one state that relies on funds collected from both the wireline and wireless surcharges to fund E911 that due to Hurricane Katrina, the state expected to see a drop in wireline funding over the next 2 to 3 years.