As of Dec. 1, Wisconsin cell phone users will see a new surcharge of 83 cents per wireless number on their monthly cell phone bill. This small fee, authorized by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, will help cover the capital costs of buying and installing the million-dollar technology that will help to better pinpoint wireless 911 calls.
'This new technology that this new surcharge is helping pay for will be able to help us pinpoint where they are, particularly in cases where the person might be hurt badly,' said Duke Ellingson, director of Dane County 911 Center. 'We will be able to get a pretty good general location and be able to get them help more quickly.'
An emergency dispatcher's Global Positioning System will not be able to give the same specificity with wireless calls as with land line 911 calls, but will provide a location within 30 to 40 meters of the call.
'Now we have nothing, so this is going to help us a lot,' Ellingson said.
However, the technology to locate 911 cell phone calls is extremely expensive, costing over $104 million.
'County government and the ones who run dispatch centers do not have these funds available,' said Topf Wells, chief of staff to the Dane County Executive. 'A reasonably fair funding source for this is to ask cell phone users to pay a very modest amount on their cell phone bill for a limited amount of time as oppose to putting it on the property tax.'
Last spring, the PSC submitted an application requesting reimbursement from county government groups and wireless providers. In October, PSC decided on how Wireless Enhanced 911 grants will be awarded.
The 83-cent monthly surcharge, which lasts through Nov. 2008, was requested to help reimburse $65 million. This will only cover the capital cost of buying and installing the equipment. Other funding will go toward improving computer-aided dispatch equipment and network expenses.
Wells said that they have received almost no criticism from Wisconsin residents regarding the new surcharge.
'Cell phone use is so widespread now. When people think about the situation they understand that this technology is something we have to do,' Wells said.
The technology will be implemented statewide except for a few northern counties with little traffic and small populations. It has already been analyzed and ordered for Dane County and will begin operating sometime in Feb. 2006.
