The business of saving lives

One year after the Federal Communications Commission mandated that wireless carriers implement systems to locate emergency phone calls, the players involved are still circling the issue.

The sticking point is money. How much will it cost to deploy wireless enhanced 911, and who is going to pay for it?

Those questions are legitimate. The equipment to purchase location technology for every cell site will cost the wireless carriers millions (see story on page 64). Public safety answering points, or PSAPs, pass the incoming calls on to the appropriate emergency agency. The PSAPs will have to update their wireline-based systems to accept 10-digit numbers.

There is money to be made here, too, for location technology vendors and for the wireless carriers that will sell phones to customers who want only the capability to get emergency service if they are ever in danger and can't describe their location.

To be fair to wireless carriers, those revenues will pay for neither all the technology upgrades needed this year - if the FCC's first deadline is to be met - nor future enhancements, since the technology is still emerging.

Customers are willing to pay some of the costs, but wireless carriers hesitate to raise fees to the point where the cost outweighs the convenience. Studies show that some 80% of wireless users bought their phones just for safety.

But the issue isn't as much about money as it is about people like Karen Nelson and Richard Gatto. Nelson's truck was snowbound during a South Dakota storm last winter when she called for help. She could not provide her location, so she had to wait several hours to be rescued. Wireless E911 technology could have shortened her agonizing experience.

Gatto led New Jersey police to a group of vandals with his phone. Last week, he was awarded Comcast Cellular One's Good Samaritan Award for demonstrating the key role wireless now plays in public safety.

Public safety is what wireless E911 is about. The money issue is complex, and there are lots of details, including technology standards and cooperation between businesses and municipalities. Still, each group can work together to clear the obstacles. They should, before next winter hits.