Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Illinois raids wireless E911 fund to balance budget

From: NEXTEL-1
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:27:20 -0400

Illinois raids wireless E911 fund to balance budget
By Heather Forsgren Weaver
July 13 13:31:00, 2004

WASHINGTON—Illinois has joined the list of states that have raided their
enhanced 911 funds to balance their budgets, said the National Emergency
Number Association.

“In attempt to balance the state budget, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojveich
(D) is putting lives at risk. On June 30, Illinois closed the 2004
fiscal year with a $1,325,480 diversion from its state wireless E911
fund,” said NENA in a statement released Monday . “Without access to
these funds, local 911 systems may not be able to instantly identify the
location of a wireless caller.”
Illinois collects a 75-cent surcharge on all wireless phone bills. “Even
though wireless subscribers think the ‘911 surcharge’ on their monthly
bill is going to improve their safety, the money is being siphoned off
to pay for something else,” said NENA.
Currently 24 counties in Illinois are capable of receiving location
information for wireless 911 calls—known as Phase II.  E911 service is
being deployed in two phases. Phase I required carriers to supply PSAPs
with a callback number and cell-site location information. The deadline
was April 1, 1998. Phase II requires more precise location information.
It was supposed to be available in some areas by Oct. 1, 2001, but the
FCC waived that requirement, giving each nationwide carrier a different
implementation schedule. All carriers and all markets must be deployed
by 2006, however. In Phase II deployments, handset-based solutions must
be able to locate the caller within 50 meters 67 percent of the time and
within 150 meters 95 percent of the time. Network-based solutions must
be able to locate the caller within 100 meters 67 percent of the time
and within 300 meters 95 percent of the time.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that would authorize $100
million for PSAP E911 deployment. The Senate Commerce Committee has
passed a bill that would authorize $500 million. The Senate bill is
still waiting for action on the Senate floor.
http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=829

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