Download Regulation on the technical implementation and ensuring of

FICORA 33 F/2014 M
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Unofficial translation
Regulation on the technical implementation and ensuring
of emergency traffic
Issued in Helsinki on 17 December 2014
The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) has, under sections 244
and 278 of the Information Society Code of 7 November 2014 (917/2014), laid down:
Chapter 1 General provisions
Section 1 Objective of the Regulation
The Regulation includes requirements with which it is ensured, as regards
public communications networks, that emergency calls and emergency text
messages as well as related information essential for the emergency
service are transferred from communications networks to Emergency
Response Centres. The requirements of the Regulation also ensure better
chances of success for emergency calls in the event of different congestion
and disturbance cases in communications networks.
Section 2 Scope of application
This Regulation applies to emergency calls and emergency text messages in
a public communications network.
Section 3 Definitions
Emergency call means in this Regulation a call to the universal emergency
call number 112.
Emergency text message means in this Regulation a mobile network SMS
(Short Message Service) message that the user can send to the number
112.
Sparsely populated area means in this Regulation rural municipalities as
referred to in the statistical grouping of municipalities made by Statistics
Finland, and those semi-urban municipalities that in the Rural Development
Programme are classified as sparsely populated rural areas.
Locality means in this Regulation a concentration of inhabitants as defined
by Statistics Finland.
Central locality means in this Regulation a locality that is important for the
administration or economic activity of a municipality and complies with
Statistics Finland's definition of a central locality or village centre.
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Chapter 2 Implementing and routing emergency traffic
Section 4 Implementing emergency traffic
A telecommunications operator providing call services must provide a
possibility for the user to make an emergency call and also, if the user has
a mobile subscription, a possibility to send an emergency text message.
The telecommunications operator must see to that an emergency call can
be made
1) from a functioning telephone network subscription the use of which
has been restricted or which has been closed for reasons attributable
to the user;
2) from a prepaid subscription where the balance is zero; and
3) from a mobile phone that does not have a card identifying the
subscription.
The telecommunications operator must see to that it is possible to send an
emergency text message from a prepaid subscription even if the balance is
zero.
The telecommunications operator must see to that the calling line number,
which is transmitted with the emergency call,
1) allows getting information about the subscriber, user and installation
address;
2) enables call-back to the relevant subscription; and
3) in case of a mobile subscription, also enables positioning of it.
The telecommunications operator must, for its part, see to that the
accuracy and reliability of the address and location data that is related to
the emergency call and that is submitted to the emergency services
authority meet the following requirements:
1) the address data related to fixed network subscriptions and mobile
network subscriptions is no older than 24 hours and they contain the
address submitted for the subscription
2) the location data via mobile network-based positioning indicate the
location of the subscription at least at the accuracy of one cell
The telecommunications operator must see to that in conjunction with 112
emergency calls made from vehicles (eCall) the eCall flag received from the
in-vehicle terminal is transmitted with emergency calls.
Section 5 Routing emergency traffic
A telecommunications operator must transfer with the emergency call
information on the co-management area of Emergency Response Centres
from which the call originates, provided that the information is available
from the network. The telecommunications operator must route emergency
calls to the system of the emergency services authority in a manner that is
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according to the routing data and that is agreed by the emergency services
authority and telecommunications operators. The area code the user has
possibly dialled must not affect the routing data formed in the network.
The telecommunications operator must document in a technology-specific
manner the practices used for routing emergency calls.
The telecommunications operator transmitting text messages must route
emergency text messages to the telecommunications operator with whom
the emergency services authority has agreed on the transmission of
emergency text messages to the system of Emergency Response Centres.
The telecommunications operator must see to the eventual rerouting of
emergency calls made from a corporate network (company's internal IP
network, PABX network or other corresponding network), and the eventual
number modification in the originating centre or equivalent so that, on the
basis of the information received from the above-mentioned network,
information on the co-management area of Emergency Response Centres
from which the call comes is transferred with the call.
The telecommunications operator must, for its part, see to that the call
cannot be forwarded to the universal emergency call number 112.
The telecommunications operator transmitting an emergency call or an
emergency text message to an emergency services authority must see to
that the calling line number is always transferred with the emergency call
and the emergency text message when the number has been received and
the emergency services authority's interface enables the number transfer.
Chapter 3 Ensuring emergency calls
Section 6 Ensuring emergency calls in general
A telecommunications operator must dedicate priority to emergency calls in
a public communications network.
The telecommunications operator must document in a technology-specific
manner the practices used for prioritising emergency calls.
The redundancy of components that have priority rating 1 and 2 and that
comply with FICORA Regulation 54, as well as connections between them
must be implemented so that emergency traffic of the connection that
functions as back-up is prioritised the same way as the connection that is
backed.
The connections between the Emergency Response Centre and the
telecommunications operator connecting the Emergency Response Centre
to the public communications network must have redundancy.
The telecommunications operator must ensure that the base station carrier
waves are turned off in case the transmission connection between the
mobile network mobile station and the base station controller breaks.
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Section 7 Ensuring redundancy of the network used for emergency calls in
localities of sparsely populated areas
A telecommunications operator must ensure that a single transmission
connection break between a mobile network base station and a priority 2
component referred to in FICORA Regulation 54 does not prevent
emergency calls via mobile networks in any entire locality mentioned in
Annex 1.
The telecommunications operator must ensure that a single transmission
connection break between a concentrator for more than 100 fixed
telephone network subscribers and a priority 2 component referred to in
FICORA Regulation 54 does not prevent emergency calls via the fixed
telephone network in any entire central locality of municipalities mentioned
in Annex 1.
The telecommunications operator must document its plan and
implementation of redundancy referred to in this section for each locality in
sparsely populated areas.
Chapter 4 Provisions on entry into force
Section 8 Entry into force and transitional provisions
This Regulation enters into force on 1 January 2015 and will remain in force
until further notice.
This version of the Regulation takes into account the latest available
version of Statistics Finland's list of localities from 2012, as well as the
known municipal changes up until early 2014 and the changes made to the
statistical grouping of municipalities. Consequently, 30 localities will be
added to the scope of redundancy requirements. These localities are
marked in red in Annex 1 of the Regulation. Telecommunications operators
must ensure that in respect of the localities in question the redundancy
required by the Regulation have been implemented by 31 December 2015.
In 2016, the 112 emergency text message will be deployed in conjunction
with the deployment of the new information system for Emergency
Response Centres. The preparedness required by the 112 emergency text
message must be implemented in telecommunications networks in such a
manner that they can be deployed as soon as Emergency Response Centres
are ready to process them.
The in-vehicle emergency call system (eCall system) will be finally available
when the eCall functionalities have been implemented in all vehicle devices,
communications networks and Emergency Response Centres. According to
the latest decisions made at the EU level, eCall must be deployed in
Emergency Response Centres by 1 October 2017.
Section 9 Information and publication
This Regulation is included in the Series of Regulations issued by the
Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority and it can be obtained from
the FICORA Customer Service Office:
FICORA 33 F/2014 M
Office address
Itämerenkatu 3A, Helsinki
Postal address
P.O. Box 313, FI-00181 Helsinki
Telephone
+358 295 390 100
Fax
+358 295 390 270
Website
http://www.ficora.fi/
Business ID
0709019-2
Helsinki 17 December 2014
Asta Sihvonen-Punkka
Director-General
Kirsi Karlamaa
Director
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