Monday, March 27, 2000
Cell phone fee faces Senate battle
$7.80 a year would upgrade 911 tracking
BY SPENCER HUNT
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS — The Ohio General Assembly could soon slap a $7.80 annual fee on your cellular phone to help 911 operators track wireless emergency calls.
The fee would help buy new technology to let local 911 centers automatically identify a caller's cell phone number and location.
Although many people list personal safety among the top reasons they buy wireless phones, emergency operators have no way to tell where these calls are coming from, and they can't call back if they are cut off.
Sponsoring lawmakers point to these concerns and to a federal mandate ordering states to upgrade their 911 systems as reasons to pass their plan. Call center directors also say cell phone users should pay to support the system.
In Kentucky, cell phone users pay 70 cents a month to support the system. Kentucky is one of 27 states that already charges such fees, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“About 30 percent to 40 percent of our calls come from cell phones,” said Greg Wenz, the Hamilton County Communications Center's operations manager. “We answer the phones, and there's people screaming for help. But we can't locate them.”
Similar arguments moved House lawmakers last week to vote 90-5 for a bill that would impose a 65-cent monthly fee on every wireless phone with an Ohio number or billing address. Despite that strong majority, the bill may face trouble from Senate leaders worried about passing an election-year tax hike.
“I don't like having fees on telephone bills,” said Senate President Richard Finan, R-Evendale. “It's a new tax. That's the way I look at it.”
But Mr. Finan also said something should be done.
“I recognize the concerns here,” he said. “I'd like to find an alternative way to fund this.”
At the center of the issue is a 1996 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate ordering cell phone companies and 911 officials to fix a fundamental flaw in the emergency calling system. It's up to state legislatures to find ways to pay for it, the FCC ruled.
When a 911 call comes from a regular, wired phone, the operator can see the caller's phone number and street address on a monitor. The operator can use this information to send help immediately and to call back if the connection is broken.
None of that happens with a cell phone, said Bo Keck, former director of the Muskingum County call center. Mr. Keck is the Ohio chapter president of the National Emergency Number Association, a group that represents 911 centers.
“People will call up and say, "I'm on Interstate 70. I just left Columbus, and I'm not sure where I am,'” he said.
Despite the lack of a direct link to call centers, Mr. Wenz said, cell phone companies have no problems marketing their phones as safety devices.
“Cell phone manufacturers are selling our services, and we're the ones left holding the bag for it,” he said.
Perhaps that is why cell phone companies support the bill, even though it makes their products more expensive.
“This could actually enhance (cell phones') value,” said Keith Brooks, a Columbus attorney who represents a loose affiliation of Ohio's major wireless phone companies, including AT&T, Ameritech, Sprint, Airtouch and American Cellular.
Mr. Brooks said people thinking about buying their first cell phone might be willing to pay more if they knew the money would provide better emergency service.
“Isn't that worth 65 cents a month?” he asked.
In Ohio, the proposed 65-
cent fees could raise $19.5 million a year, according to one legislative staff estimate.
A more accurate figure was unavailable because cell phone companies are unwilling to say how many customers they have.
The cell-phone companies would use half of the money to buy special routers that tag incoming calls with their phone numbers and install them in cell phone towers.
Call centers would use their half to buy new equipment that can display the transmitted numbers on their computer screens.
The Ohio proposal resembles bills that already have passed in 28 states. All have approved monthly surcharges of 10 cents to $1.25 to fund the upgrades.
A few wireless-enhanced 911 systems already are operating in Washington, Oregon, California and Indiana.
The FCC mandate also orders that the money be used to buy technology capable of pinpointing a wireless caller's location to an area roughly equal to two football fields. So far, that technology is still being developed.
Regardless, Mr. Keck said, there is no other way to improve the system without the money.
Now that the bill has passed the House, his group and the phone companies gearing up for a renewed push to pass it through the Senate and gain the governor's signature.
Gov. Bob Taft has no official position on the plan, according to spokesman Scott Milburn. The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Priscilla Mead, R-Columbus, said she is more concerned about Mr. Finan's objections.
One alternate funding proposal would have cell phone companies pay for the upgrades themselves. The companies would then receive a credit from the state to recover their costs.
Neither Ms. Mead nor Mr. Brooks said they could support that plan. They said small, start-up cell phone companies would be unable to pay out of their own pockets or get the necessary loans. If such a law passed, Mr. Brooks said it would discourage new wireless phone companies from setting up shop in Ohio.
Mr. Finan said he also agrees that cell phone companies should have to pay up front. But he seemed adamant about opposing a monthly fee.
“I still have great problems with tacking fees on telephone bills,” he said. “I just think we should look for another way to do this.”
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