Cost of 911 Service

[TVJunkie]

Fido (sprint) put there 911 service up 25 cents according to my bill this month so it is now 50 cents. That is a 100% increase. My land line (sprint) is still .22 cents on the same bill , have not received this months bell cell phone bill last one was .25 cents. I was wondering has anyone else seen there 911 charges go up on cell phones or land lines. I wonder if we are subisidising VoIP 911 upgrades.


(tried to search forum for this but 911 is excluded from searches so sorry if it has been asked before)

[Proteosome]

I think I recall mention of this awhile ago. The extra charge, I believe, is to implement the ability to know where you are calling from when dialing 911.

So, if you call 911 from your cell, they'll be able to pinpoint your location and send a rescue if you get cut off or don't know where you are.

This feature is already part of the land line so the fees will not go up for that.

[Damnit]

bell mobility up it to .75...they lost my sat, and internet business, they might lose this as well......................

[Nemnoch]

why would they lose your business over 0.50 cents a month for a service that keeps you safer and is partially regulated by the government?
That makes 0% sense to me.


Nem, who asks why

[dcomp11]

The 911 fee increase is the subsidise the cost of implementing Enhanced 911 (E911) services, mandated by the government.

[TVJunkie]

OK thanks for the explanation. I am one of those people who focus real heavy on the 5 and 10 cent charges that people hit you with and I tend not to spend that much time analysing the one off $500 and $1000 bills .

You would be amazed at how this nickel and diming the customers to death can make huge profits for large corporates. If you have a million cell phone users and you add a $1 charge to each customers bill thats $12M in extra revenue every year they would be ripping off from consumers.

I wonder why Bell is .75 and sprint .5 will bell do a better job of triangulating my postion.

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Look after the pennies and the $ will look after themselves

[HDTV101]

I remember when I got my first Cell phone in 1991 there was a license fee of $32 for the year. This was a standard fee and was the same for a CB or Ham radio license. Then all of a sudden Cantel (Rogers) changed it to $6.25 a month and called it an access fee. Do the math and you find out its $75.00 a year! So Rogers just decided they wanted to make some money off of this and instead of going from $32 to $75 they did it in a more sneaky way by changing it by the month.

[nevermind]

the question is is should we be forced to get new technology like enhanced 911. Think about it 10 to 20 years ago few people had cell phones. If you were on the road and had an emergency you had to hope like hell there was a pay phone or a good samartin around.

I am not a luddite and I don't want to go back to those days...but for god's sake what are the chances that if I am able to dial 911 I can't say I am at such and such location and here is my emergency.

And you realize the enhanced 911 will create its own set of problems. I recently read that many 911 cell calls were placed accidentally...I can just see it now police fire ambulance racing to a location on Hwy 401 cause some guy sat on his cell phone and it called 911.

Then they will have to raise taxes to pay for the extra cops, firefighter and paramedics

[ken0042]

I know in Calgary procedure for a 911 hang up is to call back first, and if nobody is available to deny the emergency, a police officer is sent out.

Keep in mind a good percentage of us on these forums are men. I think this would be good peace of mind for women who have to walk through a bad area of town after working late. Just have 911 on the phone and your finger on the "send" button.

Ask your wife, sister, or daughter what they think.

[HammerJoe]

Why isntead of everybody paying more and more for the 911 service have those that use it pay?

[Nemnoch]

it's government regulated.
you pay so everyone can have access to 911 service.
just like health care.
it pays to keep the system up, it pays the wages of those who answer the phone, it pays to keep you safe.
i really don't understand why you would want to get rid of it.

nem, who says he'd rather pay a measley 75 cents a month than not be able to call 911 if someone was in trouble.

[ken0042]

How would that be decided, Joe? For example, I witness a car accident; a bad one. If it's going to cost me $20 to call 911 for the people involved; I might think twice.

Should the people in the car pay then? What if they say "we didn't ask for 911 to be called."

[dcomp11]

Originally Posted by HammerJoe

Why isntead of everybody paying more and more for the 911 service have those that use it pay?

The last thing that you want is for people to have to think about calling 911. Often, every second counts and wasting time thinking about calling 911 can cost someone their life.

I recently read that many 911 cell calls were placed accidentally...I can just see it now police fire ambulance racing to a location on Hwy 401 cause some guy sat on his cell phone and it called 911.

A lot of those accidental calls happen when the phone is in your pocket and the number gets dialled. For those that don't know, dialling 112 from a GSM mobile will call 911 as well, and some people don't know this and do it by accident.

[Medic2566]

just a few thoughts... 911 service is a federally regulated matter in Canada, and the CRTC sets rates for the carriers. These rates can be found on the Canadian Govt. CRTC website.

As a Paramedic of 15 years, I have a little different perspective on 911 usage. Cell phones are likely the largest headache for mixing up dispatch information, largely because people do not know where they are, can not give adequate directions, and panic. I have seen people who have lived at thier residence for years use a cell phone to call 911 (they were in thier front yard or such), and mix up thier own address. Don't get me wrong, cell phones are a great tool, but in my experience, well over 50% of the calls to 911 have incorrect or incomplete information. If the Ambulance, Fire truck or police car goes to the wrong address, or doesn't come at all because they don't know where the emegency is, it sometimes shows up in the newspaper (I called, but they didn't come, and now my freind/ spouse/ family member is dead), but people complain when you implement the service that would prevent this.

As far as who pays for it, 911 is an essential point of access to lifesaving services. This capability is borne by every subsciber, as usage fees would not provide the costs required. The minimal costs actually are paying for Millions of dollars of upgrades to the system, and over time most (or all) cell phones will have the ability to automatically report thier position when you call 911. Next time you are driving down a highway, try to guess what mile marker you are at, or what the civic address is of the building where you buy your coffee. Most people who are paying attention have trouble in a crisis, let alone someone who is caught unaware during an emergency.

As far as the "New set of problems" for E911 service, if someone sits on a cell phone, police, fire & ambulance are not rolled unless there is a known problem. All 911 calls ARE followed up in some manner, especially hang- ups, primarily by Police. It is unlikely that the number of accidental calls will increase as a result of E911 implementation (it is illegal to have 911 programmed into speed dial in Canada), but if someone DOES dial 911 then we will know who it is (it will no longer be a subscriber *somewhere* in the coverage area), and we can follow up with it more effectively.

My opinion is: Don't criticize someone for trying to make you safer... Your life or the life of a loved one may depend on it someday.

[dcomp11]

Originally Posted by Medic2566

but if someone DOES dial 911 then we will know who it is (it will no longer be a subscriber *somewhere* in the coverage area), and we can follow up with it more effectively.

What happens if someone calls 911 from an unactivated cell phone (i.e. no phone number)?