The FCC is considering a petition for waiver of its rules regarding the delivery of Calling Party Number to a volunteer ambulance company. The idea, which appears to be back on the front burner at the FCC after years of debate, is covered in FCC proceeding number 91-281.
In brief: a private non-profit corporation which provides ambulance services has asked that it be allowed to see Caller ID information that the Calling Party has blocked. The company's argument(1) is that it deserves the same consideration as a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP), since it is providing emergency response in situations where lives are at stake.
I feel that the request should be denied. There are valid arguments both for and against, but I'm uncomfortable with the idea of granting governmental powers or privileges to non-public corporations, no matter how well-intentioned their request may be.
CenturyLink's comment(2) is the most recent (3/16/2012), and one sentence caught my eye:
Contrary to the Petition's assertions, though, it is not obvious that the needs of private emergency services providers are the same as those associated with public agencies, agencies generally charged by legislative or government imperatives to protect the public health and safety.
... and I agree. After all, there are numerous private ambulance service providers, who are licensed to offer their services to the public, and which are answerable to the government for their competence, training programs, and performance. However, they are dispatched through PSAPs, which keep records to prevent abuses.
Here's the official filing:
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The comments to the proceeding are at
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Bill
P.S. Full disclosue: I was responsible for the E911 system in New England during part of my career at Verizon. I was also once a CenturyLink employee.
- Other organizations have asked that /they/ be given the same waiver: most notably, NASA, on behalf of the security forces at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
- The rest of CenturyLink's filing is at