GATINEAU – The CRTC will set a deadline of February 1, 2010 for a new wireless emergency 911 standard to be implemented by Canadian wireless carriers. The announcement is expected at 11 a.m. this morning.
Canada’s wireless e911 service is not as advanced as compared to the U.S. marketplace. In Canada, 911 operators who field an emergency call made from a cell phone normally must ask where the caller is. Of course, that’s a problem if the caller either can’t talk, or doesn’t know where they are.
Thanks to an FCC edict in the States, wireless carriers there already use radio triangulation technology and GPS to narrow down where 911 callers are calling from.
As was noted in a story on Cartt.ca almost two weeks ago, Rogers Wireless is already working on the new solution is calls “phase two” and plans to be ready to go in May.
Which will suit the CRTC just fine as today’s announcement is expected to push Canadian wireless companies to act as quickly as possible.
Watch Cartt.ca for more on this story later today.
