Federal Communications Commission	FCC 20-98
STATEMENT OF 
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI
Re:	Wireless E911 Location Accuracy Requirements, PS Docket No. 07-114.
When you call 911, the response time can be the difference between life and death.  That makes it crucial for first responders to be able to find you as soon as possible.  But discerning your location can be challenging if you’re in a multistory building.  
That’s why last year, a bipartisan majority of the Commission adopted rules to require wireless carriers to meet a vertical location-accuracy metric, or “z-axis” metric.  This metric established requirements that are achievable and will provide first responders with valuable, life-saving information—specifically, identifying a location of plus or minus three meters for 80% of indoor wireless 911 calls in the top 25 markets by April 3, 2021 and in the top 50 markets by April 3, 2023.  These rules were supported by an impressive coalition of public safety organizations, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the National Emergency Numbering Association, the only professional organization in this country focused solely on the needs of 911.   
Today, we build upon last year’s effort.  For example, we look beyond the top 50 markets and require nationwide wireless providers to deploy z-axis location technology or dispatchable location to all Cellular Market Areas nationwide by April 2025.  Non-nationwide providers will be given an extra year to meet this requirement.  This will ensure that consumers and emergency personnel in both rural and urban America—and not just our nation’s larger metropolitan areas—will have the benefit of vertical location accuracy by a date certain. 
We also afford wireless carriers more options for complying with our rules.  For example, we allow CMRS providers to deploy technologies that focus on multi-story buildings, where vertical location information is most vital to first responders.  We decide that providers may satisfy the vertical location accuracy metric by deploying z-axis capable handsets nationwide.  And we clarify that providers may combine handset-based technologies with other z-axis technologies to meet the nationwide benchmarks—so long as these technologies are validated by testing to meet the accuracy requirements.  
Additionally, we take steps to encourage the deployment of dispatchable location solutions without relying on the now-terminated National Emergency Address Database.  Consistent with our dispatchable location rules for other types of providers adopted in the Kari’s Law proceeding, we require wireless carriers to make dispatchable location for wireless 911 calls available, beginning January 6, 2022, if technically and economically feasible.  
As was the case with last year’s Order, our action today is strongly supported by a broad coalition of public safety groups, including the International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Fire Fighters, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Sheriffs’ Association, and the National Association of State EMS Officials.  These organizations say that this Order “will significantly improve emergency responders’ ability to locate wireless 9-1-1 callers in the United States” and “recognizes the urgency for strong vertical location accuracy rules that ensure that public safety can rely on location information provided by wireless carriers to better save lives across the nation.”  
Of course, much work will remain after today.  So wireless carriers, the public safety community, z-axis solution providers, device manufacturers, and others will have to work together in good faith to get the job done—and done on time.  We owe it to the Americans who rely on their mobile phones to call 911 in an emergency.  And we owe it to the first responders who often risk their own lives to answer those calls.  
This item is an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to protect the safety of the American people. For their dedication in helping us reach this point, I want to express my gratitude to Brenda Boykin, Emily Caditz, Dr. Kenneth Carlberg, Rochelle Cohen, Jill Coogan, John Evanoff, Christopher Fedeli, Lisa Fowlkes, David Furth, Erika Olsen, Dr. Rasoul Safavian, and Michael Wilhelm from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau; Chana Wilkerson and Sanford Williams from the Office of Communications Business Opportunities; Alex Espinoza, Kenneth Lynch, Chuck Needy, and Emily Talaga from the Office of Economics and Analytics; Michael Carlson, David Horowitz, Bill Richardson, and Anjali Singh from the Office of General Counsel; and Nicole Ongele from the Office of Managing Director.
2