Final rule · 2025-17895

Implementation of the National Suicide Hotline Act of 2018

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts rules requiring covered text providers, including wireless providers, to develop the capability to transmit georouting data in a format that is compatible with the Lifeline's platform to allow the routing of covered 988 text messages by the Lifeline Administrator to the appropriate crisis center based on the texter's general location, rather than area code; and to provide such georouting data for covered 988 text messages, when available, to the Lifeline Administrator. To protect the privacy of 988 texters, this document defines "georouting data" as location data generated from a cell- based location technology that is aggregated to a level that will not identify the precise location of the handset, but only the general area from which the text originated, thereby making local resources available while protecting texters' identities.