For Immediate Release
1200 G Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005 202/628-6380 202/393-5453 (fax)	Contact: Rachel Pater Phone: 202-434-8858 E-mail: rpater@atis.org

November 10, 2003, Washington, D.C. – Concluding that the ATIS recommended standard for non-initialized and 911-only wireless phones was “more far-reaching and a technically superior solution” the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted ATIS’ Petition for Reconsideration on callback numbers for non-service initialized and 911-only wireless handsets.

“The FCC’s decision represents another success for ATIS’ Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ESIF), the wireless industry and the public safety community,” said Susan M. Miller, president and CEO of ATIS. “The standard recommended by ATIS’ ESIF provides a powerful solution which will allow 911 callers – many facing urgent, life and death situations – to provide a callback number to 911 call centers when relying on a non-service initialized or 911-only wireless phone.”

The Petition for Reconsideration was filed by ATIS on behalf of ESIF, requesting that the FCC revisit issues surrounding non-service initialized and 911-only wireless handsets. ATIS recommended the solution found in Annex C J-STD-036, “Enhanced Wireless 911 Phase 2,” a joint industry standard developed by ATIS’ Standards Committee T1 and TIA’s TR 45.

The FCC agreed that the ATIS recommended standard provides “greater potential benefits and fewer potential downsides” over the FCC’s proposed consecutive number approach, which required 911-only and non service initialized wireless phones to use 123-456-7890 as the callback number transmitted to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP). ATIS’ ESIF determined that the FCC’s consecutive number approach would not enable PSAPs to distinguish between abusive “crank” calls to the 911 system from legitimate calls.

By utilizing the ATIS recommended standard, a call from a non-service initialized or 911-only phone over an Annex C compliant network is recognizable immediately, because the telephone number that is sent to a PSAP’s caller ID has 911 as its prefix followed by a part of a wireless handset’s Electronic Serial Number (ESN) or International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI). This solution creates a unique surrogate telephone number associated with a non-service initialized or 911-only wireless phone. It allows PSAPs to distinguish between harassing and legitimate calls; thus preventing adverse impacts on the 911 system.

The FCC is now requiring that within six months of the issuance of its Order, carriers donating non-initialized 911-only phones and handset manufacturers of 911-only phones, begin to program 911 plus a seven digit number that is derived by a methodology analogous to that described in the Annex C standard.

The ATIS petition also identified the potential impact of the consecutive number solution on existing numbering systems used to support wireless global roaming. ATIS noted that the use of the consecutive number solution would remove as many as one million numbers from the International Roaming MIN (IRM) assignment pool – a wireless numbering resource that uses ten-digit numbers, where the first number must be either a zero or a one.

IRMs are used pervasively among wireless service providers around the world to support seamless global roaming services. The IRM resource is maintained by the ATIS-sponsored International Forum for ANSI-41 Standards and Technology (IFAST).

The ESIF was jointly convened by ATIS and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) to facilitate the identification and resolution of technical issues related to the interconnection of telephony and emergency services networks.

About ATIS

ATIS is a technical planning and standards development organization that is committed to rapidly developing and promoting technical and operations standards for the communications and related information technologies industry worldwide using a pragmatic, flexible and open approach. Over 1,200 participants from more than 400 communications companies are active in ATIS’ 16 industry committees, and its Incubator Solutions Program. www.atis.org

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