e911 charges redundant/unnecessary

[KAura]

Any inactive cell phone can call 911.
Therefore any cell phone can call 911.

Cell phones are great in that wherever you are
calling from your location is triangulated.  Did
you put an address into your contract when you
purchased cell phone service?

I don't think you did!


I am currently in a location where I don't get any
cell phone signals at all, however, I can still use
the landline to call 911.


So why is every ITSP trying to push e911 charges
down our throat...

...is there any way to just say I'm not paying for
it -- I don't want it -- I don't need it?

Is e911 registration a necessary evil?

[AlanB]

With kids at home I'm glad to have 911 service. That said I keep an inactive cell phone plugged in in case I don't have internet.

I believe many are mandated by the FCC to provide 911 service.

[giqcass]

As stated above it's  the feds that push 911 down our throats.  The few companies that don't offer it are skirting the law in one way or another.  Callcentric for example allows you to say you plan to use the service outside of the United States.  Google Voice avoids the fee by claiming they are not an actual telecom and a connected telephone service is required to use their service.  Ipkall doesn't provide any outgoing calling so they don't consider their free number a telephone service as it goes only one way.  I believe Canada has a similar requirement.

[MikeHObi]

The FCC says so.
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/voip-and-911-service

All interconnected VoIP providers must automatically provide 911 service to all their customers as a standard, mandatory feature without customers having to specifically request this service. VoIP providers may not allow their customers to "opt-out" of 911 service.

[Codesmith]

There is still an issue with redundancy.

I have two VOIP devices, a regular and a backup, both ringing the same phone and only one of them can be set to E911.

I have a friend who bought a years worth of just E911 from a provider, and is now forced to provide also buy it again from a 2nd when she upgraded from Google Voice.  Again one phone two E911 systems only one of which can be active.

Finally a 3rd friend isn't even using her VOIP for phone at all, it's just so her budget wireless alarm system can call her cell allowing her to listen in, turn of the alarm.  She can also disabled it/enable it remotely by calling it.  There isn't an option to have it call 911. 

But rules are rules.