2026 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) FOR EVALUATION OF DISPATCHABLE OR ESTIMATED CIVIC LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES BY THE 9-1-1 LOCATION TECHNOLOGIES INDOOR TEST BED

The 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed LLC (the “Test Bed LLC”) invites vendors of new or emerging “dispatchable location” or “estimated civic location” technologies with a presence in the U.S., whose technologies produce a reliable in-building “Civic Address Response” for 9-1-1 calls to provide technology information to the 9-1-1 Location Technologies Indoor Test Bed (‘Test Bed’) for a technical evaluation. Pursuant to an evaluation of the technology, the Test Bed may invite one or more vendors to participate in a future field test in multiple regions across the country, subject to the technology’s operational readiness and vendor’s ability to meet the technical and financial applicability requirements of the test campaign. In case the technology vendor solution is not ready for an evaluation at this time, the vendor is encouraged to proactively contact the Test Bed to help inform future testing plans.

Background: The Test Bed has previously conducted large-scale testing of commercially available Device-Based Hybrid (“DBH”) horizontal (X and Y-axes) and vertical (Z-axis) location technology solutions, as deployed in nationwide wireless provider networks to determine their performance versus the Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC”) accuracy metrics as described in the FCC’s rules and relevant Wireless E911 Location Accuracy Requirements orders. ¹

Test Bed LLC is interested in exploring scalable dispatchable location, as defined below, along with estimated civic location technologies which can reliably provide a supplement to the current positioning solutions involving latitude/longitude and vertical positioning. The civic location response can be conveyed by the wireless carrier with 911 calls so that a Public Safety Answering Point (“PSAP”) or emergency communications center (“ECC”) will receive the caller's location automatically and can dispatch responders quickly and accurately locate the caller.

According to FCC rules, “dispatchable location” information is defined as “A location delivered to the PSAP by the CMRS provider with a 911 call that consists of the street address of the calling party, plus additional information such as suite, apartment or similar information necessary to adequately identify the location of the calling party. The street address of the calling party must be validated and, to the extent possible, corroborated against other location information prior to delivery of dispatchable location information by the CMRS provider to the PSAP”. ²

While the end-goal is to provide complete dispatchable location information of the calling party whenever possible, the Test Bed is also looking to evaluate solutions that can currently provide estimated civic location information in whole or in part, such as street address, floor level/label, unit number, and/or room number of the caller, or other similar information. An estimated civic location should also include a geodetic representation of a two-dimensional area or three-dimensional volume representing the uncertainty (search area) of the civic location at a 90% confidence level, such as per ATIS-0700052, “ATIS Standard on Civic and Geodetic Location Conveyance in Support of Emergency Calling.” An estimated civic location may not be validated.

2026 RFI Evaluation Timeline

Technical evaluations of the responses to this RFI are planned to begin on September 11, 2026, and will conclude by November 6, 2026, depending on the number of vendor responses and complexity of the technologies being evaluated. All responses will be reviewed by the Test Bed LLC’s Program Manager and Technical Advisory Committee ("TAC").

The vendor respondent may request a non-disclosure agreement, which will need to be executed prior to August 24, 2026. The vendor is requested to plan accordingly.

Evaluation Criteria

RFI responses will be evaluated against criteria designed to assess the readiness and maturity of the technology to provide a reliable and scalable in-building civic location response for 9-1-1 calls in the context of a complete, end-to-end dispatchable location or estimated civic location solution. The criteria were selected by the Test Bed’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and have been used to assess vendor readiness for prior Test Bed campaigns and RFI responses. The criteria below do not comprise an exhaustive list but are intended to provide guidance for those who may respond to the RFI. Please note that the criteria can be modified by the Test Bed TAC without notice. A respondent is encouraged to provide full details of its solution with regards to the implementation, geographic scalability and real-world operational maturity of the technology.

At a minimum, estimated civic and dispatchable location technologies should be able to deliver a floor level/label and street address. More desirable is the ability to provide detailed indoor address information, such as a unit number. Ideally, solutions should have geographic scalability; e.g. available in or scalable to the entire United States, as opposed to available only in certain test markets or structures.

It is a long-term goal of the Test Bed for solutions to be able to demonstrate end-to-end functionality from a user calling device, through the CMRS network, through the 9-1-1 or NG9-1-1 system and finally to the PSAP/ECC. Solutions would ideally be able to demonstrate integration into the calling device operating system. Solutions that use a test application that does not support emergency dialing strings from the native dialer (i.e. dialing 9-1-1) and are not integrated into the CMRS network are not preferred but may be considered.

Note: The following criteria are intended to be utilized by the Test Bed TAC to evaluate the response. To help inform the TAC, the RFI response should address the listed criteria and provide sufficient documentation to support any statements or claims. For example, field test results, along with the test methodology and the scope of testing. The system architecture and roadmaps for the technology, geographic scalability, integration with the native OS dialer, and OEM handset support are additional topics that require adequate documentation to enable the evaluation.

• Is the solution able to determine an address and deliver it through carrier networks, to the 9-1-1 or NG9-1-1 system and to the PSAP/ECC?
• Which degree of precision does the solution have (e.g. street address, floor level/label, unit number)?
• Is the solution integrated or able to be integrated into the mobile device’s native dialer?
• Is the solution architecture and the technology’s general concept of operation well understood?
• Is the solution potentially scalable to essentially all wireless 9-1-1 callers and readily extensible to the entire US?
• Has a commercial readiness plan been submitted with the RFI response to show how this solution will scale and be deployed throughout the United States? This commercial readiness plan should include all resources (e.g., required sensors, agreements, or software needs in handsets, etc.) that are needed to highlight the commercial viability of this solution.
• Which Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) handsets does the solution support?
• What precludes other OEM handsets from being supported?
• What are the limitations of handsets that are supported by this solution?
• Which handsets are excluded (e.g., specific vintage of mobile operating system)?
• Are there roadblocks to the broad implementation and availability of the solution?
• Does the solution’s complexity suggest implementation risk?
• Which Commonly Accepted Standards (47 CFR 9.28 “Commonly accepted standards”) does the solution employ?
• Would the solution require additional standardization efforts?
• Would these efforts be new standards, or revisions to existing standards?
• Is the technology commercially available today?
• If not, how viable is widespread commercial availability of the solution?
• Has the solution previously been tested and verified in the field?
• Are test results provided for evaluation?
• Are test conditions and methodologies well understood?
• Is this technology promising based on prior history of evaluation?
• To what extent is the technology in its current state testable in the framework of the Test Bed?
Note:
• Test Bed Primary Test Areas: Atlanta, San Franciso and Chicago regions
• Test Bed Supplemental Cities: Houston, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Seattle
• Are there complexities that would make testing the solution in the Test Bed not feasible in a realistic timeframe?
• Does the solution provide for ensuring integrity of data?
• For dispatchable location technologies, how does or how would the solution support use of an authoritative Location Validation Function (LVF) to provide a validated civic address?

Response Instructions and Questions

Any party interested in responding to the RFI should send an email to Mr. Harish Punjabi at hpunjabi@ctia.org from a company email account.

All questions regarding the RFI and the proposed technical evaluation should be emailed to Mr. Harish Punjabi at hpunjabi@ctia.org no later than August 10, 2026.

Contact Information

All inquiries should be directed to:

Mr. Harish Punjabi
Email: hpunjabi@ctia.org
Telephone: 202.845.5701
9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed, LLC
1400 16th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington DC 20036

Test Bed LLC – Background:

In 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new rules³ that require the nationwide wireless providers to establish an independently administered and transparent indoor test bed to test and verify that location technologies are capable of meeting the Commission’s new location accuracy requirements for wireless calls to 9-1-1 emergency services. (See paragraphs 121 to 132 of the FCC’s Fourth Order). In accordance with the FCC’s Fourth Order, the test bed must also be available to vendors of new or emerging location technologies that can demonstrate how those technologies might enable wireless providers to meet the new enhanced location accuracy requirements through improved horizontal location technologies or providing accurate vertical information (e.g., z axis).

At the direction of its member companies, CTIA established the 9-1-1 Location Technologies Test Bed, LLC (Test Bed LLC) as an independent company to administer and operate the indoor Test Bed consistent with the FCC’s rules. The Test Bed LLC selected a vendor as the Test Bed program manager, and another vendor to administer and execute the Test Bed. The Test Bed LLC and Test Bed are modeled on the FCC’s CSRIC III and IV methodologies and recommendations and is established consistent with relevant FCC’s Orders.

Test Bed LLC has also directed the Program Manager and Administrator/Executor to implement the Test Bed consistent with the recommendations of ATIS’ Emergency Services Interconnection Forum (ESIF) Next Generation Emergency Services & Messaging (NGESM) Subcommittee which has and continues to develop the requisite test methodologies through a collaborative multi-stakeholder process.

Wireless providers and vendors of indoor location technologies are encouraged to participate in the Test Bed by periodically visiting this website for important announcements, or by contacting the contact person above to obtain information regarding upcoming events.