Commission Adopts E911 Location Accuracy Requirements

The FCC adopted a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at its November Open meeting that establishes a vertical (z-axis) location accuracy metric of plus or minus three meters for E911 calls made from wireless handsets (Vol. XVI, Issue 44).  Wireless carriers must extend this capability to 80 percent of calls in the top 25 markets by April 3, 2021, and in the top 50 markets by April 3, 2023.  

Proposed Suicide Prevention Hotline Number

The FCC issued a News Release last week announcing a proposal to formally designate “988” as the nationwide, three-digit phone number for a suicide prevention and mental health hotline (Vol. XVI, Issue 33).  The proposal would also require all phone companies to transmit calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is currently accessible at 1-800-273-8255 and through online chats.  The Commission will consider this proposal at its Open Meeting on December 12.  

Public C-Band Auction Announced

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a letter to Congress announcing that the Commission will conduct a public auction of spectrum in the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band (C-Band) (Vol. XVI, Issue 44).  The FCC will auction 280 MHz of the C-Band, while preserving the upper 200 MHz for incumbent use.  

IEEE 802 Executive Committee Approves Working Group Proposal

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Executive Committee approved the Project Authorization Request (PAR) establishing an IEE 802.16 working group (Vol XVI, Issue 42).  The group will begin work to update the standard, which currently specifies the physical layer (PHY) and media access control layer (MAC) of the air interface to promote Industrial IoT type devices.  The first meeting will be at the IEE 802 Interim session in Irvine, CA from January 12-17.  However, a request has been made to hold the session from January 14-16.