FCC Commissioners Say Wireless Carriers Got Over on 911 Location Requirements
Rather Than Requiring Carriers to Certify This Year, FCC Kicks the Can Down the Road
FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington say that a deal the agency cut with the nation’s three largest wireless carriers relieves them of public safety obligations regarding 911 vertical location information.
Last week, the FCC reached settlements with AT&T [T], T-Mobile [TMUS] and Verizon [VZ] that require the carriers to start providing wireless 911 callers’ z-axis location information to call centers within seven days; to implement a compliance plan that includes specific testing, reporting, and public interest conditions; and to pay a $100,000 settlement amount, the agency said.
“So we were surprised and disappointed to learn through a news release that FCC leadership decided to relieve wireless carriers of their certification requirement. The FCC is letting wireless carriers off the hook in exchange for $100,000 and a promise to provide whatever vertical location information they may have—however inaccurate it may be. This agreement, negotiated without any input from our offices, is a bad deal for public safety,” the commissioners said in a joint statement.
In 2015, the FCC adopted rules to improve location information for 911 wireless calls. “ Those rules required nationwide wireless providers to deploy dispatchable location or meet certain z-axis location accuracy requirements in the nation’s largest 25 markets by April 3, 2021, and to certify to such deployment by June 2, 2021,” the FCC said.
However, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon sought an extension of the deadlines because of challenges with testing z-axis solutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCC said. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, after inquiry into the carriers’ compliance with the deadlines, reached a settlement “that resolve the investigations,” the FCC said.
These commitments extend beyond the twenty-five largest metropolitan areas required under FCC rules, the agency said. “Six years is too long to wait for 911 vertical location information that can save lives,” said FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, in a prepared statement. “These settlements accomplish what has evaded the agency for too long: they ensure that the FCC, public safety, and wireless carriers work together to immediately start delivering this information to first responders without further delay. They also ensure that we are improving our 911 location accuracy capabilities everywhere in the country and not just in the top 25 markets.”
Key Takeaways:
This 911 location enhancement process has been contentious from the beginning.
In January, LBN reported that the FCC rejected a request from industry association CTIA and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO) to delay the enhanced 911 accuracy requirements.
Apple Maps Rolls Out New Features To Compete With Google
Apple [AAPL] announced, at its Worldwide Developers Conference this week, several new features for its Maps that are designed to keep pace with rival Google [GOOG].
The company said that with iOS 15 users will be able to hold up an iPhone and Maps will generate an accurate position for detailed walking directions in augmented reality.
Another feature is a three-dimensional city-driving experience with new road details, when navigating using iPhone or CarPlay, the company said. These road details include turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks.
In addition, the company said that transit riders can find nearby stations more easily and pin favorite subway lines. “Maps automatically follows along with a selected transit route, notifying users when it’s nearly time to disembark, and riders can even keep track on Apple Watch,” the company said.
Key Takeaways:
Apple Maps has greatly enhanced details with new road colors and labels, landmarks and a night-time mood that’s in a moonlit glow.
While the company is big into indoor navigation, it hasn’t made an announcement like Google’s Live View, which allows users to find features in malls and airports.
Companies Partnering on Indoor Mapping Product for First Responders
GeoComm, RapidSOS, and Esri are partnering to deliver indoor maps to 911 and first responders to improve emergency response situational awareness, the companies said.
GeoComm provides indoor maps, built with Esri technology and basemaps, to Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) via the GeoComm Maps option within RapidSOS Portal.
The end product will allow ECCs and first responders with the ability to view indoor maps depicting floors, rooms, corridors, entrances, exits, and other building features, the companies said.
“GeoComm Indoor Maps [allow] agencies to submit source data from building owners/operators which is converted into geo-referenced indoor maps. The resulting indoor maps are available to ECCs and unlocks the life-saving potential of new and emerging mobile phone positioning technologies,” said Jody Sayre, GeoComm vice president of public safety GIS content and services, in a prepared statement.
Key Takeaways:
Currently, first responders rely on limited information from a 911 call.
Indoor maps allow first responders to have actionable location intelligence to reduce response times.
Mapwize Partners With Campus.app
Mapwize and Denver-based Campus.app recently partnered to integrate the European company’s indoor mapping software with Campus.app’s mobile and web-based portal platform.
Campus.app is a web portal, mobile app software and support services provider for higher education. The company said it has replaced outdated portals with a cloud-based platform.
The Mapwize interactive map gives students more confidence as they navigate their campus for the first time, said Chase Williams, Campus.app CEO.
Mapwize offers a streamlined map interface with search functionality and step-by-step directions to find campus locations, the company said. Mapwize also allows universities to post QR codes for students to get information, should they get lost, and improves accessibility with such information as ramp locations and elevators, the company said.
Currently, Mapwize is installed in more than 650 buildings on five continents. The Mapwize product is currently used at several campuses in the U.S. and Europe, including the University of Cincinnati, La Sorbonne, l'EM Lyon, and the Institut Polytechnique of Paris. “We are not only used by shopping malls, but also universities, corporate offices, hospitals, cruise ships, airports and more,” said Margot Soulier, Mapwize marketing manager.
Contact: Margot Soulier, Mapwize, margot@mapwize.io, www.mapwize.io.
Other Location News:
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😊 Alphabet's Waymo Brings Waymo One to Maps App. Customers will be able to book Waymo One directly from the Maps app.
🤞 GM Expands Onstar Services Beyond its Vehicle Owner Base. “Onstar Guardian services, including roadside assistance and crash response dispatching, will be offered through an Apple or Android smartphone app to people who don't drive GM vehicles for $15 a month after a one-month trial.”
🤦♂️ Apple Has Lost Three Execs From Self-Driving Team. “Despite the recent departures, Apple has added notable names to the car team over the past few years, including former top Tesla executives.”
👍 Improving Healthcare Facilities with Location-Based Services. “Quuppa explores the potential impact of adopting location tracking technologies in clinical settings.”
👌 Verizon Connect Helps Maximize Uptime During Customer Migration to 4G Network. “Verizon Connect Reveal customers will benefit from a new High-Fidelity Tracking feature, which provides a three-fold increase in the frequency of real-time vehicle location updates on the Live Map.”
✔ Vodafone Qatar Unveils Enhanced IoT Fleet Management Solution.
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Genesis Luxury Cars To Use TomTom Maps
TomTom [TOM2] said that its maps and real-time traffic services have been chosen by Genesis for their upcoming models in Europe. The Genesis G80 and GV80 will be the first models to use TomTom’s maps to support built-in navigation, smart cruise control and other advanced automated driving functions, the company said.
European Genesis models will use information from TomTom’s ADAS Map to support automated driving features like Smart Cruise Control and Highway Driving Assist II, the company said. Genesis’ Smart Cruise Control with machine learning, helps vehicles to independently learn users’ driving characteristics.
Contact: TomTom, tomtom.pr@tomtom.com, www.tomtom.com.
Parkopedia Payment Services Selected By Toyota
Parkopedia’s parking and payment services will be used by Toyota and Lexus drivers in North America, the company said. The ‘Park with Parkopedia’ service is integrated into the Toyota and Lexus smartphone apps and vehicle infotainment systems, allowing drivers to locate, reserve and pay for parking, the company said.
The new service covers 60,000 off-street parking locations with more than 6,000 reservable locations across the United States. The Park with Parkopedia service also allows users to find the closest or lowest-cost parking in one of the 60,000 parking lots and garages across thousands of towns.
Contact: Adam Calland, Parkopedia, 44(0)7838219129, adam.calland@parkopedia.com, business.parkopedia.com.
HERE Says Location Data Helps U.S. DoTs
HERE Technologies said it is marketing its location data and technology to U.S. departments of transportation (DOTs) to conduct fixed asset management activities, plan capital investments, and deliver infrastructure performance assessments according to federal regulations. Some of the resources, HERE map, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, and street level imagery, are now accessible within Bentley Systems’ Orbit.
State and city DOTs can quickly build digital twins, which are highly accurate 3D representations of their physical realities, without the time and cost required to acquire the LiDAR and street-level imagery themselves, the company said.
Contact: Jordan Stark, HERE, (312) 316-4537, Jordan.stark@here.com.
NXP Platform Works With Samsung SmartThings Find Service
NXP Semiconductors said its Trimension Ultra-Wideband platform now offers ranging for new tagging applications. UWB and Bluetooth Low Energy solutions have been combined to deliver spatial awareness to the new Samsung Galaxy SmartTag+, providing an enhanced experience to the Samsung SmartThings Find service.
It can accurately locate Samsung Galaxy devices2 and any personal items – such as a backpack, wallet, or keys – with a Galaxy SmartTag attached through an intuitive tracking interface.
With the addition of Galaxy SmartTag+ using Trimension UWB and BLE, users can take advantage of augmented reality technology to visually guide them towards their missing item using their smartphone's camera3, the company said.
Contact: Jason Deal, NXP, 44 7715228414, jason.deal@nxp.com.
SkyLab Uses Semtech’s Asset Management Platform
Semtech Corp. [ SMTC] said SkyLab B.V., which makes sensors and GPS tracking/measuring systems, will use the company’s LoRa Edge asset management platform to develop prototyping for indoor and outdoor asset management of valuables, vehicles, vessels, containers and more.
LoRa Edge platform enhances the SkyLab prototyping board by helping to extend battery life and features Semtech’s LoRa Cloud Geolocation service capabilities, the company said.
Contact: Linh Dinh, Semtech, (805) 250-1263, ldinh@semtech.com, www.semtech.com.
NextNav Wins Grant for Location-Based Gaming
NextNav said it received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games. NextNav will use the MegaGrant to develop an Unreal Engine plug-in to allow developers to incorporate 3D geolocation into their applications. Urban areas represent an enormous untapped market for location-based gaming, augmented reality, architectural and automotive visualization, the company said. NextNav’s Pinnacle service delivers vertical location with “floor-level” accuracy in more than 4,400 cities nationwide, the company said.
Contact: Chelsea Hoedl, for NextNav, NextNav@launchsquad.com.
CATALYST Partnering With Amazon Web Services
CATALYST is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to take satellite-based earth observation intelligence to the mainstream business community via AWS Cloud. The CATALYST-AWS collaboration will deliver actionable geoscience analytics to users with limited technical experience, the company said.
CATALYST’s initial product, available through AWS Data Exchange, is an infrastructure risk assessment service that uses satellite data to continuously monitor millimeter-level ground displacement over a subscriber’s area of interest worldwide, the company said.
Contact: Kevin Jones, CATALYST, jones@catalyst.earth, https://catalyst.earth/aws.
People
Teletrac Navman named Alain Samaha as president. Samaha, who has 20 years of industry experience, holds an MBA from Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley.
Contact: Andrew King, for Teletrac Navman, (914) 513-6895, andrew@bastionelevate.com.
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