FCC Proposes Fines For E911 Failure

As Jonathanlc2005 mentioned, the GSM carriers chose to use triangulation. So regardless of what phone a person uses, the carrier is E911 compliant. The upgrades for it was done at the tower. CDMA has GPS built into their phones, and GPS gives a more accurate location than the triangulation method. But not everyone wants a new phone, and you can't completely blame people for not wanting to switch.

dave73 said:
As Jonathanlc2005 mentioned, the GSM carriers chose to use triangulation. So regardless of what phone a person uses, the carrier is E911 compliant. The upgrades for it was done at the tower. CDMA has GPS built into their phones, and GPS gives a more accurate location than the triangulation method. But not everyone wants a new phone, and you can't completely blame people for not wanting to switch.

Especially if you're happy with your current handset and don't give a fig about this.

This was an FCC Mandate that carriers had to have 95% of their subscriber base on e-911 compliant handsets by the deadline. The customer actually has no choice, even if they didn't want a new handset. It was simply a ruling that the FCC handed down, and the carriers were required to comply. How they did it was up to them. As a carrier, your options are:
A) offer the customer a handset deal so good they can't refuse
B) Terminate their service if they refused

VZW and AT&T were successful with option A. Most carriers didn't really want to entertain the idea of option B with the market being so saturated, they'd just go to another carrier and get an e-911 compliant handset anyway.

It's nothing meant to hurt customers, but, honestly, if...
(continues)

Actually, AT&T had implemented the triangulation method, so regardless of type of phone used, it is compliant.

Given that GSM users can switch the SIM freely between handsets, it would have been impossible for GSM carriers to enforce the GPS method.