The Federal Communications Commission has issued a ruling intended to put an end to 911 fee disputes between local government agencies and VoIP providers.
In a case from Alabama, the commission held in a draft declaratory rulingOpens a new window that state 911 districts cannot charge providers of VoIP phone services more money for 911 access fees than they do telecoms like AT&T and Verizon.
The federal law that set up the 911 network prohibits states from discriminating against interconnected VoIP services.
Several digital phone-service providers argued before the commission that a provision in the Alabama law ran counter to the federal statute by allowing local telecoms to pay lower 911 access fees than VoIP providers.
Wanted: clarification and parity
The state law in effect at the time stated that when a 911 district assessed an emergency telephone charge, providers of VoIP technology had to collect one 911 charge for each 10-digit number assigned to the user. The ruling overturned that provision.
The decision, which will become permanent after a period for comments, is intended to remove any ambiguity from the federal law and ensure parity between VoIP and traditional providers.
It clarifies that the Federal NET 911 Act requires that both local telecoms and VoIP providers must pay a similar fee for each line accessing a 911 network.
Several Alabama 911 districts, including Mobile County and the City of Birmingham, filed a federal lawsuit against BellSouth in 2015.
Access line fee
They argued that when BellSouth acted as a VoIP provider, it failed to collect 911 charges for each number in a digital phone network, which they said was specified by state law. Traditional telecom providers were only required by the law to charge for each access line that held up to 100 phone numbers.
US regulations have been stressing that VoIP installations also pay particular attention to providing precise location detail on phones being used to access the 911 network from within larger buildings, like hotels and offices. This is intended to help first responders get to the emergency quicker.
Access to 911 responders has also been a bone of contention in many rural areas, where there have been concerns about whether households will be able to access emergency services in the event of broadband outages.
Key takeaways:
- The FCC has issued a draft ruling that will effectively level the playing field between VoIP providers and traditional telecommunications firms regarding the levying and remittance of 911 network fees.
- Stemming from a dispute in Alabama, the ruling will clear up some of the uncertainties that still exist within federal legislation regarding the interaction between VoIP communications and critical emergency networks.
- 911 has been at the heart of many issues that the VoIP market has encountered as the technology continues to penetrate both private households and commercial and government premises.