February 17, 2012 03:53 pm EDT

FCC rules VoIP providers must report outages in effort to improve 911 service

The FCC has many important things under its jurisdiction, and ensuring a functional 911 service is among the most critical. As such, telephony providers are required to report network outages, so the commission can monitor and maintain a resilient service. Until now, this hasn't included VoIP services, but a new ruling states that interconnected VoIP providers will have to declare outages that meet certain criteria. The move comes after the FCC's most recent Local Competition Report, which reveals that almost one-third of the 87 million residential telephone subscriptions are now provided as VoIP, and therefore carry emergency calls. While public safety is the main driver, the report also states it will "ensure critical communications infrastructure remains available in times of crisis." Check out the lengthy video after the break to see the meeting in its entirety.

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FCC rules VoIP providers must report outages in effort to improve 911 service originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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