Text-to-911 service to be launched by the four largest US carriers
Posted by: Pece Andonoski in Operator News, tags: AT&T, Operators News, sprint, Tmobile, Verizon
The Federal Communications Commission announced that the four largest US wireless carriers: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile have agreed to create a service that will allow customers to contact 911 call center via text message.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said:
"Access to 911 must catch up with how consumers communicate in the 21st century - and today, we are one step closer towards that vital goal. Last year I announced a comprehensive plan to accelerate the transition to Next Generation 911, including text-to-911, and the FCC has acted to advance this effort."
Text-to-911 will be very helpful to people with hearing or speech disabilities or injured who may not be able to make a voice call.
The service will launch nationwide by May 15th 2014 with major deployments expected in 2013.
