ACMA - ACMA media release 189/2009

23 December 2009

ACMA makes new Emergency Call Service Determination

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has made a new Emergency Call Service Determination, which governs how telecommunications providers receive, handle and transfer emergency calls.

While core obligations from the previous Determination largely remain, the new Determination introduces a number of important improvements that take into account technological change, especially from increasing IP-based telephony.

‘The emergency call service is obviously a crucial element of the Australian telecommunications landscape,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA. ‘In making the new Determination, the ACMA has focused on improving the operation of the service, by updating the obligations and information requirements of providers generally and Telstra and the Australian Communications Exchange specifically (as the emergency call persons), in line with the changing communication environment,’

The key changes in the new Determination include:

New obligations on the providers of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) ‘Out Only’ services requiring them either to provide access to Triple Zero or, if they are unable to do so, to clearly inform their customers that such access is not available.
Revised customer information provisions to align obligations on mobile communication providers with those that already exist for other types of service providers.
Additional requirements aimed at minimising the number of non-genuine calls to Triple Zero from mobile phones, which take into account recent industry initiatives.
Making the call answering standards for the text (TTY) emergency call service number,106, compatible with the standards for voice calls.

Details of the changes to the Determination are outlined in the backgrounder.

A number of submissions argued that the Determination should also require the provision of enhanced information about the location of a caller from a mobile service. The ACMA wishes to stress that this very important issue is being separately considered by the ACMA and it will be releasing a discussion paper to specifically explore this issue with interested parties in the first quarter of 2010.

The new Determination was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments today and will commence on 24 December 2009. The new obligations on the providers of VoIP ‘Out Only’ services will have effect on the day two months after the Determination is registered.

Breaches of the Determination may incur either a formal warning or financial penalty, determined by the Federal Court. Penalties are up to $250,000 per contravention.

The new Determination, together with an Explanatory Statement that includes summaries of submissions, will be available on the ComLaw website (www.comlaw.gov.au). Copies of the full submissions to the review and on the draft Determination are available on the ACMA’s website.

Media contact: Donald Robertson, Media Manager on (02) 9334 7980.

Note to news editors: Previously, Triple Zero was also referred to as ‘Triple O’. This latter term is no longer used due to a concern that it may cause confusion for users of alphanumeric keypads who may dial the letter 'O' rather than zero.

Backgrounder

The emergency call service is an operator-assisted service designed to connect callers to an emergency service organisation—police, fire or ambulance—in a life-threatening or time critical situation.

Under s.147 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999, the ACMA must make a written determination imposing requirements on any or all of the following – carriers, carriage service providers and emergency call persons, in relation to emergency call services. The current Determination, with relatively minor amendments, has been in place since 2002.

The ACMA regulates the emergency call service through the Emergency Call Service Determination.

Australia’s primary emergency call service number is Triple Zero (000), which can be dialled from any fixed or mobile phone, and certain VoIP services. There are also two secondary emergency call service numbers: 112, which is available from all GSM or GSM derived mobile phones, and 106, which connects to the text-based relay service for people who are deaf or who have a hearing or speech impairment. All calls to the emergency numbers, whether from fixed, mobile, payphones or VoIP services are free-of-charge.

Emergency calls are initially handled by one of two emergency call persons. The ACMA's Telecommunications (Emergency Call Person) Determination 1999 specifies Telstra as the current emergency call person for Triple Zero and 112, and the Australian Communication Exchange Ltd as the current emergency call person for 106.

Review of emergency call service arrangements

This Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2009 follows an extensive review of the existing regulatory arrangements, which was initiated in 2008. A draft Determination was released for public comment in June 2009.

The ACMA consulted with representatives from the telecommunications industry, emergency service organisations and consumers in developing the revised Determination.

The ACMA commenced the review with the release of a discussion paper, ‘Calling the Emergency Call Service – Review of Arrangements’, in 2008. The ACMA received 21 public submissions from a variety of stakeholder groups including members of the telecommunications industry, the emergency service sector, consumer groups and special interest groups.

Responses to the discussion paper presented a wide range of opinions, and covered a number of issues related to the existing regulation and more generally about Australia’s emergency call service. There was broad agreement among submitters that regulation of the area generally worked well but could be improved to take into account technological change, especially from increasing IP-based telephony. A number of matters raised in submissions were beyond the scope of the ACMA’s power to make a Determination in relation to emergency call services and would ultimately need to be considered by governments.

On 30 June 2009 the ACMA released a draft version of the Determination for public comment. In total, 19 submissions were received on the draft Determination from areas including telecommunications industry, the emergency service sector and special interest groups. Despite some differences between submitters on the manner and form of the draft Determination, all submissions broadly supported the need for the current arrangements to be revised to take into account technological change and other developments.

VoIP services

VoIP can be categorised into four service types.

Type 1: on-net services

This service type enables customers of the same VoIP provider to make and receive calls on that VoIP network only and isolated from the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

Type 1 VoIP services are typically provided by online providers such as Skype that require users to have a separately sourced broadband connection.

Types 2, 3 and 4: services interconnecting with the PSTN

The other three VoIP service types interconnect with the PSTN:

Type 2 outbound only: one-way outbound services—these enable users to make outgoing calls, including to the PSTN, but do not enable users to receive calls from the PSTN.

Type 3 inbound only: one-way inbound services—these enable users to receive calls from the PSTN, but do not enable users to make calls to the PSTN.

Type 4 inbound and outbound: two-way services—these enable users to make calls to and receive calls from the PSTN.

The new provisions in the Determination only apply to Type 2 VoIP services. Type 4 services are already required to provide access to emergency call services.

SUMMARY OF CURRENT AND NEW REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE EMERGENCY CALL SERVICE DETERMINATION
Current (and remaining) provisions in the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2002
Carriers must…	Carriage Service Providers who supply an emergency telephone service must…	Treatment of VoIP services…	Emergency Call Persons must…
Carry emergency calls made on their network, free of charge to the appropriate emergency number (000/112/106) with network priority Do everything reasonably necessary to ensure that CSPs using their facilities are able to comply with the Determination (for example provide access to their network regardless of contractual arrangements in place with the end-user making the call) Have arrangements in place for dealing with emergency calls Give as much information as practicable to the ESO about an emergency call at the time the call is transferred to the ESO	Give the end-users access, free-of-charge to the appropriate emergency call service number (000/112/106) without delay Carry an emergency call from an emergency telephone service to the ECP Take reasonable steps to ensure that information about the customer of the service is available to ECPs Provide information to the IPND manager about the nature and related service address of their customers’ services (with the exception of mobile services) Ensure their contact details are provided to the ECP 000/112	VoIP two way services required to provide ECS access VoIP two way services required to carry emergency telephone services VoIP two way services required to provide service information to the IPND manager and advice that the service may be of uncertain origin (VoIP one way service not required to provide ECS access)	Give ACMA written notice of a decision to introduce a significant change to the way it operates the ECS Give each other assistance reasonably necessary for the purpose of receiving and handling and transferring emergency calls using a common system Transfer a caller to the appropriate emergency service organisation when the caller requests to be transferred without delay Meet call answering targets (ECP000/112); Keep records and report to the ACMA monthly

SUMMARY OF CURRENT AND NEW REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE EMERGENCY CALL SERVICE DETERMINATION

Current (and remaining) provisions in the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2002

Carriers must…

Carriage Service Providers who supply an emergency telephone service must…

Treatment of VoIP services…

Emergency Call Persons must…

Carry emergency calls made on their network, free of charge to the appropriate emergency number (000/112/106) with network priority
Do everything reasonably necessary to ensure that CSPs using their facilities are able to comply with the Determination (for example provide access to their network regardless of contractual arrangements in place with the end-user making the call)
Have arrangements in place for dealing with emergency calls
Give as much information as practicable to the ESO about an emergency call at the time the call is transferred to the ESO

Give the end-users access, free-of-charge to the appropriate emergency call service number (000/112/106) without delay
Carry an emergency call from an emergency telephone service to the ECP
Take reasonable steps to ensure that information about the customer of the service is available to ECPs
Provide information to the IPND manager about the nature and related service address of their customers’ services (with the exception of mobile services)
Ensure their contact details are provided to the ECP 000/112

VoIP two way services required to provide ECS access
VoIP two way services required to carry emergency telephone services
VoIP two way services required to provide service information to the IPND manager and advice that the service may be of uncertain origin

(VoIP one way service not required to provide ECS access)

Give ACMA written notice of a decision to introduce a significant change to the way it operates the ECS
Give each other assistance reasonably necessary for the purpose of receiving and handling and transferring emergency calls using a common system
Transfer a caller to the appropriate emergency service organisation when the caller requests to be transferred without delay
Meet call answering targets (ECP000/112);
Keep records and report to the ACMA monthly

Additional provisions contained in the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2009
Carriers must…	Carriage Service Providers who supply an emergency telephone service must…	Treatment of VoIP services…	Emergency Call Persons must…
Specific clarification that the provisions do not apply where carriers are prevented or prohibited from giving access to an end-user or authorised not to under law (e.g. to manage a Denial of Service attack)	Provide information to the IPND manager about the nature and related service address of their mobile customers’ services Ensure the contact details required by (both) ECPs are provided and that those contacts can be contacted at any time with guaranteed immediate response. (i.e. for response to a DoS attack, for IPND queries etc) Specific clarification that the provisions do not apply where CSPs are prevented or prohibited from giving access to an end-user or authorised not to under law (e.g. to manage a DoS attack) Definition of emergency telephone service introduced. Includes VoIP out only Takes steps to minimise the number of non-emergency calls as directed by the ACMA	VoIP out only providers required to provide ECS access If they are unable to do so they must clearly and prominently advise potential service subscribers of the service limitations VoIP out only service which have a public number issued to them (in future) required to provide service information to the IPND manager and advice that the service may be of uncertain origin	Take steps to minimise the number of non-emergency calls including playing a recorded voice announcement ECP (000/112) and complying with directions issued by the ACMA (ECP 000/112 and 106) Transfer a caller no response call to an IVR and if the caller indicates by response to the IVR that they require assistance, transfer the call to the appropriate emergency service organisation (these provisions were previously contained in a guideline) Call answering performance targets introduced for the ECP for 106 to align with those for the ECP for 000/112 Specific exemptions for the ECPs from meeting call answering targets when a matter beyond the ECP’s control affects their ability to do so

Additional provisions contained in the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2009