FCC fines Sprint $1.2 million for 911 failure
Sprint finds itself on the receiving end of a fine levied by the FCC due to problems with the processing of 911 calls placed by people with hearing difficulties. According to the FCC, from March 2014 to September 2014 Sprint failed to properly handle calls made using the Captioned Telephone Service. That service is designed to provide closed captions for emergency calls. In addition to blocking calls from users trying to make use of the service, Sprint continued to collect a subsidy from the FCC that the company was supposed to be using to ensure the service was available. The FCC provides a subsidy to carriers so they do not have to bear the cost of providing this particular 911 service.
Sprint joins other major carriers who have been fined by the FCC over failures connected to the 911 system. T-Mobile had to pay $17.5 million for failing to answer 911 calls in one case that lasted for 3 hours. Verizon has paid the FCC as well to the tune of $3.4 million for a six hour outage that impacted 750,000 residents in California.
Sprint says they will pay back the proceeds received from the FCC and take steps to avoid future problems with the 911 systems.
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