§9.19. Provision of reliable 911 service.
47 C.F.R. § 9.19
Definitions. Terms in this section and § 9.20 have the meanings set forth in §§ 9.3 and 9.28 and as follows:
Monitoring aggregation point. A point at which network monitoring data for a 911 service area is collected and routed to a network operations center (NOC) or other location for monitoring and analyzing network status and performance.
Certification. An attestation by a certifying official, under penalty of perjury, that a covered 911 service provider:
Has satisfied the obligations of paragraph (c) of this section and § 9.20(a);
Has adequate internal controls to bring material information regarding network architecture, operations, and maintenance to the certifying official's attention; and
Has made the certifying official aware of all material information reasonably necessary to complete the certification.
Certifying official. A corporate officer of a covered 911 service provider with supervisory and budgetary authority over network operations in all relevant service areas.
Covered 911 service provider.
Any entity that provides covered 911 services, which are 911, E911, or NG911 services for which a failure would impede the real-time routing, delivery, or transfer of 911 traffic. Covered 911 services include:
The provision of 911, E911, or NG911 capabilities such as call routing, automatic location information (ALI), automatic number identification (ANI), or the functional equivalent of those capabilities, directly to a public safety answering point (PSAP), statewide default answering point, or appropriate local emergency authority as defined in § 9.3.
The operation of one or more central offices that directly serve a PSAP. For purposes of this section, a central office directly serves a PSAP if it hosts a selective router or ALI/ANI database, provides equivalent NG911 capabilities, or is the last service-provider facility through which a 911 trunk or administrative line passes before connecting to a PSAP.
The provision of Next Generation Core Services (NGCS) facilities, including NGCS location facilities or NGCS routing facilities, directly by contract or tariffed service to any 911 Authority, whether via owned and operated facilities or leased or contracted facilities.
The operation of an ESInet or legacy PSAP gateway (LPG).
The operation of a Location Information Server (LIS) or equivalent IP 911 location database that provides service to two or more originating service providers (OSPs).
The operation of a Legacy Network Gateway (LNG), a legacy selective router gateway (LSRG), or an emergency services gateway (ESGW) used for IP conversion of 911 traffic, that provides service to two or more OSPs.
The operation of a major IP transport facility.
The operation of an IP 911 traffic aggregation facility.
The operation of interstate interconnecting ESInet facilities.
For purposes of the requirement in § 4.9(h) of this chapter to notify 911 special facilities about outages that potentially affect them, only entities described in paragraphs (a)(4)(i)(A) through (D) of this section are “covered 911 service providers.”
The term “covered 911 service provider” shall not include any entity that:
Constitutes a PSAP, 911 Authority, or other governmental authority to the extent that it provides 911, E911, or NG911 capabilities; or
Offers the capability to originate 911 calls where another service provider delivers those calls and associated number or location information to the appropriate 911 Authority.
Covered 911 circuits and paths—
Legacy covered 911 circuits. 911 facilities that originate at a selective router and terminate in the central office that serves the PSAP(s) to which the selective router delivers 911 calls, including all equipment in the serving central office necessary for the delivery of 911 calls to the PSAP. Legacy covered 911 circuits also include ALI and ANI facilities that originate at the ALI or ANI database and terminate in the central office that serves the PSAP(s) to which the ALI or ANI databases deliver 911 caller information, including all equipment in the serving central office necessary for the delivery of such information to the PSAP(s). In NG911 transitional architecture, circuits connected to LSRGs, ESGWs, or LPGs are also legacy covered 911 circuits.
IP covered 911 paths. Paths carrying IP communications that:
Originate at an NG911 Delivery Point or equivalent ESInet point of interconnection and terminate at the last routing facility before the NG911 PSAP or the legacy PSAP gateway, including all equipment associated with a covered 911 service necessary for the delivery of 911 traffic to the PSAP, such as any trunks, circuits, or paths to and from NGCS facilities and the ESInet transmission network necessary for routing and caller location information to the PSAP(s), and any intermediate paths in the chains of delivery;
Transport 911 traffic via major IP transport facilities for ultimate delivery at an NG911 Delivery Point or equivalent ESInet point of interconnection, including any intermediate paths in the chain of delivery; or
Transport 911 traffic via IP 911 traffic aggregation facilities for ultimate delivery at an NG911 Delivery Point or equivalent ESInet point of interconnection, including any interconnecting paths between ESInets, and including any intermediate paths in the chain of delivery.
Diversity audit. A periodic analysis of the geographic routing of network components to determine whether they are physically diverse. Diversity audits may be performed through manual or automated means, or through a review of paper or electronic records, as long as they reflect whether covered 911 circuits and paths are physically diverse.
Monitoring links. Facilities that collect and transmit network monitoring data to a NOC or other location for monitoring and analyzing network status and performance.
Physically diverse. Circuits or paths are physically diverse if they provide more than one physical route between end points with no common points where a single failure at that point would cause both circuits or paths to fail. Circuits or paths that share a common segment such as a fiber-optic cable or circuit board are not physically diverse even if they are logically diverse for purposes of transmitting data. IP routers, transport nodes, and node links create physical diversity if these elements are redundant, geographically distributed, load balanced, and capable of automatic failover and rerouting to redundant elements sufficient to reasonably mitigate the risks of single points of failure.
Tagging. An inventory management process whereby legacy covered 911 circuits are labeled in circuit inventory databases to make it less likely that circuit rearrangements will compromise diversity. A covered 911 service provider may use any system it wishes to tag legacy covered 911 circuits so long as it tracks whether those facilities are physically diverse and identifies changes that would compromise such diversity.
Geographically distributed. 911 network architecture is geographically distributed if 911 traffic can be delivered through more than one covered 911 facility in different geographic locations in different physical facilities.
Load balanced. 911 network architecture is load balanced if call volume is dynamically distributed among multiple active databases or call processing facilities to accommodate changes in traffic volume.
Major IP transport facility. Dedicated SIP facilities that include voice and text transport meeting or exceeding Optical Carrier 48 (OC48)/2.5 Gbps in capacity that collect and/or transmit IP 911 traffic mixed with non-911 traffic, originated from two or more OSPs and transported over interstate routes, for ultimate transport and delivery to an NG911 Delivery Point or equivalent ESInet point of interconnection. Any 911 traffic originated on the facility provider's network is not considered for purposes of determining whether a provider is serving two or more OSPs.
IP 911 traffic aggregation facility. Facilities that collect and segregate IP 911 traffic from non-911 traffic for two or more OSPs, or transport such 911-only traffic for ultimate delivery to an NG911 Delivery Point or equivalent ESInet point of interconnection. Any 911 traffic originated on the facility provider's network is not considered for purposes of determining whether a provider is serving two or more OSPs.
NGCS location facilities. NG911 IP facilities connected to an ESInet that enable the real-time provision of 911 caller location information to the PSAPs, including but not limited to the Emergency Call Routing Function (ECRF), the Location Validation Function (LVF), and successor technologies.
NGCS routing facilities. NG911 IP facilities connected to an ESInet that enable the real-time routing, delivery, or transfer of 911 traffic to PSAPs along with callback information and other associated data, including but not limited to the Emergency Services Routing Proxy (ESRP), the Policy Routing Function (PRF), and successor technologies.
Interstate interconnecting ESInet facilities. Interstate facilities that transport IP 911 traffic from an ESInet for ultimate delivery to another ESInet, including facilities designated for intermittent, contingent, or backup exchange of IP 911 traffic between ESInets.
Interoperability standards testing. Testing of covered 911 services and covered 911 circuits and paths to determine whether an NG911 interoperability solution conforms to a relevant commonly accepted standard.
Interoperability conformance testing. Testing conducted between two or more NG911 covered 911 service providers in different states that validate the interoperable exchange of information.
Interoperability. The technical and operational capability of NG911 systems, networks, and services to exchange 911 voice, text, data, and multimedia between jurisdictions, PSAPs, and service providers, in real time without the need for proprietary interfaces and regardless of jurisdiction, equipment, device, software, service provider, or other relevant factors.
Provision of reliable 911 service. All covered 911 service providers shall take reasonable measures to provide reliable 911 service that ensures physical diversity, operational integrity, and network monitoring for their covered 911 facilities. Performance of the elements of the certification set forth in paragraphs (c)(1) through (3) of this section shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph (b). If a covered 911 service provider cannot certify that it has performed a given element, the Commission may determine that such provider nevertheless satisfies the requirements of this paragraph (b) based upon a showing that it is taking alternative measures with respect to that element that are reasonably sufficient to mitigate the risk of failure, or that one or more certification elements are not applicable to its network.
911 reliability benchmarks—
Physical diversity. A covered 911 service provider shall certify that all IP covered 911 paths and legacy covered 911 circuits in its network are physically diverse as defined in paragraph (a)(8) of this section.
For IP covered 911 paths, covered 911 service providers may satisfy this physical diversity benchmark by implementing automatic rerouting capabilities, load balancing, and geographically-distributed routing facilities, transport nodes, and node links sufficient to reasonably mitigate the risks of single points of failure. Covered 911 service providers may use dedicated diverse private facilities such as MPLS, cloud-based path redundancy, or VPN services over the public internet or equally secure industry protocols as automatically re-routed paths.
For legacy covered 911 circuits, covered 911 service providers may satisfy this physical diversity benchmark by conducting yearly diversity audits and certifying that all of the legacy covered 911 circuits in its network are tagged and are physically diverse such that no network or facility element constitutes a single point of failure.
Operational integrity. A covered 911 service provider shall certify whether its central offices hosting selective routers, ALI/ANI, or functioning as the last central office serving a PSAP, or its LNG, LIS, LSRG, ESGW, LPG, or NGCS functional elements covered by paragraph (a)(4)(i) of this section in its network achieve operational integrity. Transitional elements for TDM-IP conversion, such as the LSRG or LPG, may certify to either paragraph (c)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section, in the latter case with 24 hours of backup power.
LNGs, LISs, LSRGs, ESGWs, LPGs, and NGCS facilities covered by paragraph (a)(4)(i) of this section achieve operational integrity if they have the capability to ensure continuity of services via an uninterruptible and continuous power supply and automatic switchover to geographically diverse backup facilities sufficient to prevent service disruption.
For central offices hosting selective routers, ALI/ANI, or functioning as the last central office serving a PSAP, covered 911 service providers satisfy this operational integrity benchmark by implementing backup power facilities for covered legacy 911 central office facilities for at least 24 hours at full office load if the central office directly serves a PSAP, or, for at least 72 hours at full office load if the central office hosts a selective router, including all equipment design, proper installation, necessary testing, and equipment maintenance to ensure the automatic and independent function of backup power facilities.
Network monitoring. A covered 911 service provider shall certify whether it uses physically diverse monitoring to detect outages and disruptions in its covered facilities.
Using geographically distributed automatic disruption detection and alarm systems to monitor IP covered facilities, including the IP routers, transport nodes, and node links used to make covered 911 circuits and paths physically diverse, constitutes physically diverse monitoring.
For non-IP covered facilities, maintaining and annually auditing physically diverse monitoring aggregation points, monitoring links, and NOCs constitutes physically diverse monitoring.
Compliance date. For covered 911 service providers described at paragraphs (a)(4)(i)(E) through (I) of this section, compliance with the reliability requirement at paragraph (b) of this section will not be required until 18 months from the date of issuance of a Public Notice announcing a compliance date for those paragraphs. For all covered 911 service providers, compliance with the benchmarks at paragraphs (c)(1)(i), (c)(2)(i), and (c)(3)(i) of this section will not be required until 18 months from the date of issuance of a Public Notice announcing a compliance date for those paragraphs.
Notes, amendments, and revision history
Amendments
[84 FR 66760, Dec. 5, 2019, as amended at 88 FR 9765, Feb. 15, 2023; 91 FR 1403, Jan. 14, 2026; 91 FR 42841, July 10, 2026]
Authority
Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151-154, 152(a), 155(c), 157, 160, 201, 202, 208, 210, 214, 218, 219, 222, 225, 251(e), 255, 301, 302, 303, 307, 308, 309, 310, 316, 319, 332, 403, 405, 605, 610, 615, 615 note, 615a, 615b, 615c, 615a-1, 616, 620, 621, 623, 623 note, 721, and 1471, and Section 902 of Title IX, Division FF, Pub. L. 116-260, 134 Stat. 1182, unless otherwise noted.
Source
Source: 84 FR 66760, Dec. 5, 2019, unless otherwise noted.
Amendments
[84 FR 66760, Dec. 5, 2019, as amended at 88 FR 9765, Feb. 15, 2023; 91 FR 1403, Jan. 14, 2026; 91 FR 42841, July 10, 2026]