LightReading’s unnamed sources say that The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is going to make basic e911 mandatory requirement for all VoIP providers, and the decision could come as soon as May 19th. e911 is a politically charged issue, and many in FCC and Congress are worried about a consumer backlash, which might affect future election results. The VoIP service providers will have till early November to comply. In other words, nothing much they can do about it. “This could quickly put a monkey wrench into some of these startups’ plans,” Jon Arnold of Arnold & Associates told LR. This is going to force VoIP providers to spend some serious dollars, and could possibly be the first step in the much awaited shakeout in the market. The bells, in many ways could one again emerge winners. I think this does prove out the age old telecom theory: those with infrastructure are going to win. Or something to that effect.
The small fry (and even big fry like Adelphia and AOL) can buy e911 compatability from a service provider who sells it wholesale (Level 3 comes to mind).
E911 (phase 1) is not that expensive. It’s just a pain in the ass be cause of all the parties you need to work with.