news & events

FCC Votes on Rules to Improve Wireless 911 Caller Location Accuracy

Posted April 8, 2025 at 2:46 PM

5G Wireless Infrastructure and Small Cells Zoning, Land Development, News & Events

As reported by Inside Towers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed improvements to its wireless 911 location accuracy rules on March 31, 2025. The rules cut emergency response times and help 911 call centers and first responders to quickly identify the location of people who call 911 from wireless phones. 

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said during the vote that when he spent time with firefighters in Fairfax County, Virginia a few years ago, they “emphasized the importance of 911 solutions that can help them quickly locate both victims and fellow responders during emergency situations.”

After that, the agency adopted rules that made it easier for first responders to find callers in apartments and office buildings. “But our real-life experience since then shows that there are still too many instances when first responders are not getting the actionable location information they need in emergency situations,” Carr said.  

Click here to read the full article by Inside Towers.

As noted by MM&C Telecommunications Attorney Sean Hughes, “Approximately 80% of current 911 calls are from wireless phones and approximately 76% of adults live in wireless only homes, which means only 24% of current households have landlines. Therefore, improving  the location of individuals who call 911 from wireless phones is imperative for emergency services and all local governments need to help build telecommunications infrastructure to facilitate these efforts.”

How MM&C Telecommunications Land Use Attorneys Can Help
The telecommunications land use attorneys at Miller, Miller & Canby are experienced in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, assisting cell tower companies, wireless carriers, and property owners in processing conditional use applications and other land use/zoning entitlement applications relating to improved wireless and telecommunications infrastructure. We assist wireless infrastructure companies who provide the locations to enhance high speed broadband wireless connectivity and services to wireless customers for all essential, non-essential and emergency communications. 

Sean P. Hughes is an attorney in Miller, Miller & Canby’s Land Use practice group. His career spans more than two decades of focus in zoning and wireless telecommunications and he has represented clients in land use and zoning matters throughout Metropolitan Washington, D.C. To learn more about the firm’s telecommunications practice, click here.

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