"I've said all along that my administration's first priority is public safety," said Mayor Mufi Hannemann. "This is a major step forward and further proof of our ongoing commitment to improve public safety."

"MOBI is the first cellular telephone carrier to come up on this new system, but it'll be followed by T-Mobile and Sprint/NEXTEL over the next few weeks," said Gordon Bruce, director of the City Department of Information Technology. "We expect the remaining cellular providers will be up and running on E911 by the end of March."

The E911 system can identify and digitally pinpoint an emergency caller's location within seconds. This allows dispatchers to rapidly identify where the 911 originated, even if the caller doesn't give a location, and respond to emergencies wherever there is cellular telephone coverage.

In response to the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999, the City worked with the five Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) to coordinate a unified approach to implementing the system.  

The system can locate calls within 3 to 250 feet. That's well within the Federal Communications Commission Phase I and Phase II requirements that wireless calls be located within 300 meters. The cost to bring up this phase at the City is approximately $1 million that was funded by the State E911 Commission.  

The City will need approximately another $4 million to complete the system, not including ongoing maintenance and the potential construction of co-location towers for the various providers in remote areas. The construction of these types of facilities in remote locations such as hiking trails can further enhance the delivery of public safety services.