A U.S. appeals court has refused to put on hold requirements that Internet telephone providers offer customers full 911 emergency call services by November 28, a provider said on Tuesday.
The Federal Communications Commission in May ordered that companies like Vonage Holdings Corp., the biggest U.S. Internet phone company, ensure customers who dial 911 are connected to a dispatcher who receives the caller's location and phone number.
Those requirements are due to take effect on November 28. But several smaller Internet phone companies argued that the deadline was unreasonable, noting that the wireless industry has had much longer to make full emergency 911 services available.
"We will still proceed with our appeal and still believe that the FCC's E911 Order for VoIP Service Providers is arbitrary and capricious," said Jason Talley, president and chief executive of Nuvio Corp., an Internet phone provider.
Nuvio was one of the companies who challenged the rules and sought an injunction against the FCC. Vonage was not involved in the lawsuit. Their request was turned down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The FCC recently clarified its decision and said companies did not have to cut off subscribers who did not have full 911 service, but said the carriers could not advertise or add customers in areas where full 911 service was not available.
An FCC spokesman had no immediate comment.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
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