globeandmail.com: 911 leaves North in cold

[dracodraconis]

globeandmail.com: 911 leaves North in cold

An interesting and though-provoking article by the Globe and Mail in which it reports that cellphone companies have collected millions of dollars in fees to support 911 services from customers in areas like the far North, like Yellowknife, where 911 service is not offered. They report that more than $13 million(Can) is collected each month from across the country to support 911 services, but no more than 20% of that is used to fund 911 dispatch centres. The rest, according to the article, is classified by Industry Canada as "surplus". The report goes on to state that  these same wireless companies don't want to direct funds to upgrading Canada's 911 service so that it determine the location of the cell phone from which the 911 call is being placed, a project expected to cost more than $50 million(Can).