Chattanooga: Cell phones free, but who pays 911 fee?

A free cell phone and 68 free minutes soon may be in the hands of more than 55,000 Chattanooga households, but emergency communications officials are wondering how the additional phones will affect 911 operations in the county.

TracFone Wireless, Inc., America’s largest prepaid cell phone provider, announced in August its initiative to provide more than 812,000 low-income residents of Tennessee with free cell phones. The program, called SafeLink Wireless, has been advertised across the state.

The service also is available in Florida but is expected to soon be implemented in, among others, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and New York, according to SafeLink’s Web site.

Funding for the program is provided by the Federal Communications Commission from universal services funds, which are charged on phone bills and also pay for Internet access to schools and libraries and rural health care providers. Wireless carriers and pay-telephone providers also contribute to the fund, according to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.

The phones will possess voice mail, text message, caller ID, international calling and call-waiting capabilities, as well as mobile access to emergency services.

It’s that last feature — the ability to call 911 — that has local officials worried, not so much about the calls but about the costs associated with additional emergency call volume.

“They have the potential to tie up our 911 lines,” said John Stuermer, executive director for the Hamilton County Emergency Communications District, who raised the issue during a 911 board meeting last week.

SafeLink did not return calls for comment Monday.

In Tennessee, most cell phone users pay a $1 surcharge per phone per month to help pay for 911 services. Prepaid carriers operate differently and have two ways to calculate the fee.

The provider can collect a monthly service charge from each active prepaid customer or it can divide the total prepaid revenue received within the monthly 911 reporting period by $50 and multiply that by the service charge amount, according to the Tennessee code.

Mr. Stuermer said he has not received indication as to who, if anyone, will pay the 911 fee if they receive a phone through SafeLink.

Generally, a cell phone company is responsible for collecting surcharges from users and paying for 911 services, said Mike Mahn, legal counsel for the Emergency Communications District. Without those extra fees, the district isn’t sure how it will make up the money it needs to field more calls, he said.

“That’s a concern because we’ll need that additional revenue to handle these increasing call volumes,” he said during the board meeting.

Should callers frequently call 911 without emergencies, it might not be easy to track such abuses on phones handed out by SafeLink, officials said.

The Tennessee Emergency Communication Board also has questions about the program, said executive director Lynn Questell, who has contacted the FCC for answers.

“Because allowing a prepaid carrier to offer this is a first to the best of my knowledge, we are in somewhat uncharted territory as far as this program’s impact on our 911 operations or on Tennessee's funding for 911,” she said.

Ads for the program have popped up in Chattanooga and one emergency district board member said he spotted a sign on a CARTA bus. But 911 officials said they didn’t know when the program would begin in Chattanooga or if they’ll receive money from fees.

“Nobody can give us any answers,” Mr. Stuermer said.