WIRELESS LOCATION ACCURACY

POLICY INITIATIVE: WIRELESS LOCATION ACCURACY

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