Telecom Alert - Commission Adopts E911 Location Accuracy Requirements; Suicide Prevention Hotline Number; Public C-Band Auction Announced; IEEE 802 Executive Committee Approves Working Group Proposal; Pole Attachment Webinar - Vol. XVI, Issue 47

Commission Adopts E911 Location Accuracy Requirements

The FCC adopted a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at its November Open meeting that establishes a vertical (z-axis) location accuracy metric of plus or minus three meters for E911 calls made from wireless handsets (Vol. XVI, Issue 44).  Wireless carriers must extend this capability to 80 percent of calls in the top 25 markets by April 3, 2021, and in the top 50 markets by April 3, 2023.  For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).

Proposed Suicide Prevention Hotline Number

The FCC issued a News Release last week announcing a proposal to formally designate “988” as the nationwide, three-digit phone number for a suicide prevention and mental health hotline (Vol. XVI, Issue 33).  The proposal would also require all phone companies to transmit calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is currently accessible at 1-800-273-8255 and through online chats.  The Commission will consider this proposal at its Open Meeting on December 12.  For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).

Public C-Band Auction Announced

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a letter to Congress announcing that the Commission will conduct a public auction of spectrum in the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band (C-Band) (Vol. XVI, Issue 44).  The FCC will auction 280 MHz of the C-Band, while preserving the upper 200 MHz for incumbent use.  For more information, please contact Wes Wright (wright@khlaw.com; 202.434.4239).

IEEE 802 Executive Committee Approves Working Group Proposal

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Executive Committee approved the Project Authorization Request (PAR) establishing an IEE 802.16 working group (Vol XVI, Issue 42).  The group will begin work to update the standard, which currently specifies the physical layer (PHY) and media access control layer (MAC) of the air interface to promote Industrial IoT type devices.  The first meeting will be at the IEE 802 Interim session in Irvine, CA from January 12-17.  However, a request has been made to hold the session from January 14-16.  For more information, please contact Greg Kunkle (kunkle@khlaw.com; 202.434.4178).

Register for Keller and Heckman’s Pole Attachment Webinar

Please join us for Keller and Heckman’s What Have We Learned Since the FCC’s August 2018 Pole Attachment Order? webinar on Thursday, December 12 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST, which will cover the FCC’s August 2018 Pole Attachment Order and the changes and issues it creates.  This webinar is exclusively for electric utility personnel and will be presented by Partner Tom Magee. 

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Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert is a complimentary weekly electronic update created by the Telecommunications Practice Group of Keller and Heckman LLP.  All articles, videos, and quotations are on topics of general interest and do not constitute legal advice for particularized facts.  Keller and Heckman LLP's Telecom Business Alert © 2019.  All rights reserved.  Articles may be copied with attribution.  To sign up for our weekly alert, please send us an email at telecomalert@khlaw.com and provide us with your name and email.  Please follow us on Twitter at @KHtelecom.