Sprint completed operational tests and went on-line with E911 Friday, joining the five other wireless service providers on O'ahu in providing the service.

Mobi PCS was first, in mid-January, and was followed, in order, by T-Mobile, Verizon, Cingular, Nextel and now Sprint.

"This marks a major improvement in the city's public safety capabilities," Hannemann said. "E911 can make a life-saving difference in an emergency."

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 or cannot give a location, and respond to emergencies wherever there is cellular telephone coverage.

Network-based mobile phones can locate calls within 300 meters while GPS-based handsets are required to meet 150 meters for 95 percent of the calls. The cost to bring up this phase at the city is approximately $1 million, which was funded by the state E911 Commission.

The Department of Information Technology coordinated the E911 effort with the six wireless carriers and the public safety answering points (PSAPs) on O'ahu, where 911 emergency calls are received and routed to the appropriate emergency services. The PSAPs are the Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu Fire Department, Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, Navy Regional Dispatch Center, Hickam Air Force Base Fire and Hickam police.