STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER DEBORAH TAYLOR TATE
Re: Implementation of the NET 911 Act, WC Docket No. 08-171
Today the Commission fulfills another one of our important roles for citizens and first 
responders as we continue to develop rules for 911 and E911 service.  As new technologies, new 
business models, and new services emerge, it is critical that we update our rules to take into 
consideration how citizens will continue to make emergency calls, how networks will handle 
those calls, and how our public safety service providers will respond.
With the passage of the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 
(NET 911 Act), Congress has placed 911 and E911 obligations on interconnected VoIP providers 
and required the Commission to issue rules to ensure that these providers have the access they 
need to enable such service.  This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on the 
elements of the regulations we are required to adopt.  
I especially want to recognize Congressman Bart Gordon from Tennessee for his 
continued dedication to this issue and I applaud both the President and Congress for their 
leadership on this critical piece of legislation.  My colleagues and I recognize that alacrity is 
indispensable to emergency communications operations, and I am well aware of the role such 
operations play in promoting public safety.  I was fortunate to have recently toured the new, state-
of-the-art, fully interoperable 911 call center in New York City, which links together NYPD, 
NYFD and the city’s emergency medical services, and I have also toured interoperable 
emergency communications facilities in New Orleans and the surrounding parishes.  I look 
forward to hearing from these and all public safety communications providers, network operators, 
and all those who rely upon our rules to ensure that each call reaches public safety providers and 
receives the response it deserves.
I also want to recognize efforts by industry, both in providing new and innovative 
services to its customers, and in attempting to comply with the Commission’s rules to enable 
emergency calling and other critical public safety functions.  We should applaud carriers that 
have found unique ways to provide valuable services to consumers and take into account the 
experience of such carriers in developing 911 and E911 call routing that better allows completion 
of emergency calls.  For example, CMRS carriers that add new technology such as WiFi to their 
existing service actually allow an additional layer of protection for completing a very small subset 
of emergency calls, including calls that otherwise would not be made available to mobile users 
who do not have a similar service.  
American families rely upon the 911 system no matter how they make emergency calls, 
and no matter the device or service they use to make the call.  The Commission’s rules therefore 
should encourage better ways to provide the caller location and other information public safety 
needs to fulfill its life-saving mission, while also encouraging the new technologies and services 
consumers want.  I look forward to the comments in this proceeding and addressing these issues 
to the benefit of American consumers and the public safety community.