Did you know that almost everywhere you can pick up a cell phone — even if unactivated — and make an emergency call?
The simple Telepocalypse solution to E911: make incumbent telecom operators unbundle E911 service and offer it both wholesale and retail as a stand-alone product.
Even better, make it free at the point of use. Got a POTS line? Just enforce a rule that says it’ll always do 911. (These days there’s no need to de-provision dialtone for disconnected customers; just disconnect them in software at the digital exchange.) If the benefit is mostly a social good driven by a positive externality (you call the ambulance on your phone when I get pains in my chest outside your house) then it’s a classic case for taxpayer funding.
Posted by Martin Geddes at 02:51 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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Apparently in US, dormant POTS lines are required to offer access to E911 service. A company called VoIP Incorporated claimed to have filed a patent application for a scheme similar to what you are suggesting, ( http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/articles/2004/061704gg.htm ), but a search in USPTO database does not yeild a result.
Users planning to use this scheme must not totally disconnect the loop (for example to use the internal house wiring to access the ATA from any phone outlet).
Posted by: at June 1, 2005 08:03 PM