OTTAWA, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Canada's cell phone service providers have been given a 1-year deadline to upgrade service so 911 emergency dispatchers can locate callers.
The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission in Ottawa set a deadline of February 2010 to allow time for phone companies and emergency centers alike to put the technology in place, the Globe and Mail reported.
The locating technology has been in place in the United States since 2005, the report said.
The CRTC, phone companies and emergency dispatchers have been arguing over who should pay to upgrade the system, but CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein told the newspaper the estimated $50 million issue will be put to rest next month when details are published.
Phone companies have said public money should fund the upgrade, while dispatchers claim the companies should use monthly 911 service fees it collects from consumers, the Globe said.
More than half of the 911 emergency calls in Canada are made from cell phones, the report said.
