FCC PS Docket No. 07-114 | SBC Comments Filed July 2025
“9-1-1 Inside”: Your ability to call for help and be accurately located should not depend on where you’re standing—especially inside buildings.
The Challenge
Network-based location approaches face fundamental limitations in complex buildings: signal penetration challenges in modern construction, multipath interference, and inconsistent performance across building types.
SBC’s Position
Device-Based Hybrid Solutions: Leverage smartphone sensors—barometric pressure for vertical positioning, accelerometers, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth beacons, GPS/GNSS—to achieve reliable ±3 meter vertical accuracy.
Height Above Ground Level (AGL): Provides immediately actionable information. “85 feet above ground” lets responders calculate floor level and deploy equipment correctly.
National Indoor Wireless Coverage Map: Building on the FCC’s National Broadband Map success, identify buildings where 9-1-1 calling is compromised and guide infrastructure investment.
Key Recommendations to the FCC
- Establish performance standards recognizing device-based hybrid advantages
- Advance AGL solutions using commercially available technologies
- Create regulatory incentives for enhanced building location capability
- Mandate creation of a National Indoor Wireless Coverage Map
“The Other Digital Divide: The one that starts at the building wall.” No comprehensive data exists on indoor wireless coverage quality per floor, per building, per city across the United States.
Read SBC Comments: FCC PS Docket No. 07-114 | SBC Comments Filed July 2025