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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  04-  160 
 SEPARATE  STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  KEVIN  J.  MARTIN  Approving  in  Part,  Dissenting  in  Part 


 Re:  Revision  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  To  Ensure  Compatibility  with  Enhanced  911  Emergency  Calling  Systems,  Order,  CC  Docket  No.  94-  102,  WT  Docket  No.  99-  328 
 The  central  questions  in  this  item  –  what  is  meant  by  “call  completion,”  what  is  meant  by  “delivery  of  the  call  to  the  landline  carrier,”  and  what  action  must  be  performed  by  the  handset  in  17 
 seconds  –  were  extremely  difficult  for  me,  particularly  in  light  of  the  ambiguous  language  in  the  Second  Report  and  Order,  see  Revision  of  the  Commission’s  Rules  To  Ensure  Compatibility  with  Enhanced  911 
 Emergency  Calling  Systems,  Second  Report  and  Order,  14  FCC  Rcd  10954  (1999).  Nevertheless,  I  agree  with  the  Commission’s  resolution  of  these  questions  in  this  item.  I  dissent,  however,  from  the 
 Commission’s  failure  to  initiate  a  further  proceeding  on  911  call  completion. 
 During  the  course  of  this  proceeding,  representatives  of  several  equipment  manufacturers  suggested  that  a  further  proceeding  would  be  beneficial  –  to  provide  clarity  on  what  exactly  is  required 
 for  911  call  completion  going  forward.  In  particular,  they  pointed  out  that  the  present  item  addresses  only  analog  handsets,  which  represent  an  increasingly  smaller  fraction  of  handsets  in  use.  Having  clear 
 standards  for  digital  handsets  would  be  useful  going  forward  and  might  help  the  industry  avoid  the  kind  of  lawsuits  that  gave  rise  to  the  present  item. 


 In  my  view,  the  Commission  should  have  taken  the  manufacturers  up  on  their  offer.  Initiating  a  further  proceeding  would  not  only  provide  the  desired  regulatory  clarity,  but  it  would  ensure  the 
 effectiveness  of  911  call  completion  in  the  digital  world.  911  calls  are  simply  too  important  to  risk  allowing  unacceptable  call  completion  delays.  An  investigation  of  call  completion  in  digital  handsets 
 seems  a  small  step  toward  ensuring  public  safety.  Accordingly,  I  dissent  in  part. 
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