scope:

A voluntary agreement for improving location accuracy for emergency calls was developed and signed on November 14, 2014 by APCO, NENA, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. This voluntary agreement included a roadmap for technology changes that was submitted to the FCC in response to an FCC initiative (proceeding 07-114) to provide a number of improvements to emergency location capabilities including providing a Dispatchable Location for emergency calls to Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) (http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view?id=60000988441). Standards development is needed to support the goals stated in the roadmap.

In addition to the roadmap submitted, the FCC created new requirements to address Location Accuracy. These rules are discussed in the FCC 4th Report & Order [Ref 36] and codified within the published Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) [Ref 37].

This specification describes the standards needed to support the commitments defined in the roadmap described above as well as the rules as outlined within the FCC CFR.

The standard also provides a platform to develop input (liaisons and reference specifications) into 3GPP based on 3GPP release development schedules. It also enables interaction, input, and coordination with other SDOs and related organizations, including NENA and APCO requirements and standards.

Purpose

The purpose of this standard is to develop specifications for location accuracy improvements for emergency calls specific to North American regulatory policies and practices.