OTTAWA – The CRTC has wrapped up a fact-finding exercise with Canada’s wireless service providers as part of its review of next-generation 9-1-1 services.
In a letter to the country’s WSP’s dated October 23, 2015, the Commission acknowledged that the companies have “proactively deployed hybrid location determination technologies that combine handset capabilities with network capabilities to offer the most accurate caller-location information possible to PSAPs”. This includes assisted-GPS and network-based technologies such as tower location, Round-trip time, and Advanced Forward Link Trilateration.
The CRTC said in the letter that it expects WSPs to continue to invest in the best-available wireless location determination technologies as these technologies evolve, and that it will continue to evaluate the WSPs’ location accuracy performance as part of the wireless location accuracy monitoring process, in which all WSPs are required to participate.
As part of the fact-gathering, the Commission also asked for updated information on the reliability and technical feasibility of automatically providing PSAPs with a wireless subscriber’s billing address for 9-1-1 purposes. While many WSPs and 9-1-1 network providers detailed the numerous challenges inherent in implementing an automated solution and questioned its value, the CRTC determined that it remains appropriate for WSPs to continue to provide wireless subscriber billing address information to PSAPs via their 24/7 operations centers.
“Consequently, the Commission continues to be of the view that WSPs’ efforts would be best invested in continuing to proactively upgrade and improve their existing caller location determination systems to further enhance location accuracy, rather than automating the provision to PSAPs of wireless subscriber address information that may not indicate the actual location of the 9-1-1 caller”, continues the letter.
The CRTC also reiterated its plans to initiate a proceeding in 2016 to develop the regulatory framework for the provision of next generation 9-1-1 services for telecommunications service providers.
