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On April 11, 2001, Project LOCATE held a press conference in Washington, D.C. The event signaled a renewed commitment by public safety to work cooperatively with the nation’s wireless telephone carriers to accelerate the deployment of 9-1-1 location technology.

During the ensuing months, members of Project LOCATE met with representatives from six of the country’s largest wireless carriers. The meetings were productive and informative, as both parties gained valuable insight into the complexity of the issues surrounding implementation. Waivers, costs, PSAP readiness, technology accuracy, liabilities and other bureaucratic matters were all covered during these discussions. Concurrently, Project LOCATE met regularly with the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Bureau for briefings and updates.

While the meetings with the carriers were cordial and productive, they were also overshadowed by pending requests for waivers that were still undecided leading up to the Oct. 1, 2001, deadline. Project LOCATE, the carriers and the FCC worked together to narrow the issues preventing deployment. Project LOCATE never compromised its steadfast opposition to blanket waivers that would delay implementation and can clearly claim some success in influencing the limited scope and duration of the waivers that were granted. Project LOCATE has also pledged its continued commitment to work with the FCC and carriers within the new rules and orders to accelerate national deployment of 9-1-1 wireless location technology. At the heart of Project LOCATE are the model PSAPs in every state that serve as case studies for deployment activity. Through their commitment to PSAP readiness, they have provided valuable data detailing the complexities and barriers associated with Phase-II deployment. Information gathered from the model PSAP surveys suggest a cloud of uncertainty and confusion is still a major barrier to PSAP readiness.

PSAPs have expressed concern about the costs surrounding implementation of full-featured Phase-II service. Some major questions that have arisen so far are “How much will it cost?” “Who pays for what?“ “How will I use the information if I only have 1,000 meters of accuracy?” and “What are the liabilities vs. the moral obligations when deploying an interim solution?” There are also local issues concerning carrier responsiveness and a genuine willingness to accelerate deployment.

These are just a sample of the issues the Project LOCATE Team is pursuing on your behalf. One real success of this initiative has been the solidifying partnership between APCO, NENA and NASNA. The leadership of each group fully recognizes a unified public safety voice has been a key to the success of this project.

Project LOCATE knows a great many challenges still lie ahead of us before our citizens can enjoy the benefits of 9-1-1 wireless telephone-location technology. Through the combined efforts of our associations working together, by supporting our PSAPs, through continued dialogue with the telephone industry, you have our pledge to use all our resources in our commitment to... Locating Our Citizens At Times of Emergency. n