Late Tuesday
afternoon, the FCC announced that VoIP providers have notified all their
customers on the limitations of 911 service provided over Internet telephone
lines, and that substantially over 90% of the customers had acknowledged the
notice. So, the Commission will not pursue enforcement actions against those
VoIP providers who have not meet the FCC's 100% acknowledgement requirement,
whose deadline is Wednesday.
In their notice, the FCC said, "After considering the reports submitted to
us by interconnected VoIP providers detailing their compliance with the
Commission’s notification requirements, it is evident that many providers have
devoted significant resources to notifying each of their subscribers of the
limitations of their 911 service and obtaining acknowledgements from each of
their subscribers."
The FCC had acted after several high-profile incidents this summer demonstrated
that not all VoIP customers realize their 911 calls might not be completed or
accurately routed to a PSAP.
The FCC said at least 21 providers received acknowledgements from 100% of their
customers, and 32 others receive 90% or more. "In recognition of these
substantial efforts and the very high percentage of received acknowledgments,
the Bureau announces that it will not pursue enforcement action against such
providers." The FCC did add, " We do, however, expect these providers
will continue seeking the remaining acknowledgements and will notify the
Commission once they have achieved 100% compliance."
For those receiving less than 90% acknowledgements, the FCC said it intends to,
"continue forbearing from enforcement of our acknowledgment requirement
until October 31, 2005, provided that these providers submit a status report to
us by October 25, 2005."