Do Sat phone operators need to pass through 911 calls when your account has lapsed

[madmax718]

I know in the U.S., even if your phone is not activated, or your subscription cancelled, the cell service providers are required by law to allow you to connect a phone call to 911.

Is there any such requirement for service to be provided by satellite providers? I can understand if the phone isn't registered in the U.S., but Globestar gives you a U.S. number.

 

[SARguru]

When i got my globalstar phone about 12 years ago there was a warning anout 911 and if i recall had to do with being a sat phone your call may not be routed to the closest emergency service. I think they even suggested you carry or program the 10 digit phone number va using 911. Since sat phones are not the same as cell ohones I dont think the same regulation applies where a cell phone must be able to call 911 even without activation. I am almost certain that my un-activate sat phone will not call 911, thats if i can even get signal with it! Ill check when i find it, i work at the local 911 centre so will do a test and report back

Nic

 

[madmax718]

thank you!

 

[Fireman78]

I am currently working at our 911 center, ( looks like I need ANOTHER knee surgery so may be here another couple years before I go back on the trucks). I will ask around and see what I can find out about this. Interesting ...

Sent from highest tree in the woods trying to get a signal

 

[Crom]

MSS carriers do not have to offer 911-call service to handsets that have not been initialized. That is according to this U.S. Telecommunications lawyer.

 

[Rando]

As others have stated, the answer is no. Unless you have an activated and paid up account they will not connect you to 911. Secondly depending on your service and location, the network may or may not even support 911 calls.

 

[RobRed]

Do Sat phone operators need to pass through 911 calls when your account has l...

Sat phones are in there own country code no less so no to 911 outside the USA. I've programmed the AirForce SAR numbers as well as I add local help numbers for he area I'm operating in. Also no 800 numbers are supported.

[Edited to reflect additional info from the thread]

 

[Rando]

I think all US sat phone providers are required to provide 911 access when making calls from within the US (ONLY if you have active service) per an FCC mandate in 2005. That being said, you should probably keep some direct dial emergency service numbers handy, or at least have a contact who would be available and able to pass messages for you.

 

[madmax718]

So that would include Globestar, one would think.

 

[RobRed]

Do Sat phone operators need to pass through 911 calls when your account has l...

I think all US sat phone providers are required to provide 911 access when making calls from within the US (ONLY if you have active service) per an FCC mandate in 2005. That being said, you should probably keep some direct dial emergency service numbers handy, or at least have a contact who would be available and able to pass messages for you.

Can you point to this rule (source). Don't say FCC.gov.


http://www.fcc.gov/guides/wireless-911-services

"The FCC’s wireless 911 rules apply to all wireless licensees, broadband Personal Communications Service (PCS) licensees and certain Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) licensees. Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) providers, however, are currently excluded."

 

[Rando]

Yes that would include global star.

From the FCC: http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/services/911-services/mss.html

My understanding is that this only works in the US (which makes sense, why would you want to call US 911 if you were in New Zealand?) And to reiterate on the original question - this only works if you have an active paid up account.

One other note - I am not sure if this would apply to the Isatphonepro, as it runs on the Inmarsat network which is based in the UK.

 

[RobRed]

Rando the date range on our FCC links is a bit difference. The link you provide references dates in the 2005 range versus the link I provided is in the 2011 range.

It would seem something is not jiving.

Globalstar has advertised 911 capability for over a decade.

 

[Matt_OCENS]

All three mobile satellite phone providers, Iridium, Inmarsat (IsatPhone Pro only), and Globalstar, provide 911 emergency calling assistance within the United States. They all work in a similar way as well. Dialing 911 routes you to a call center that then handles the call and relays/routes to local services. None of them are able to capture location information from your phone to relay to emergency services, so any dispatching will be based off of information you provide during the call. An partial exception to this would be if you were using the Iridium 9575 Extreme phone that was linked with GEOS and you had sent an SOS message, since it would send your GPS position.

In terms of emergency-only calling availability, with all of the providers, your phone has to be registered with the satellite in order to place a call and you cannot register your phone without active service. The one exception to this is with prepaid plans on the IsatPhone Pro and Iridium. If you are completely out of prepaid minutes, you can still place a 911 call, however any prepaid plan has an expiration period, so if your SIM card has lapsed beyond the expiry period, your service would effectively be inactive and you wouldn't be able to register with the network.

I hope that this helps shed light on the subject.

 

[RobRed]

Good to know Matt. I checked with Inmarsat regarding this and the info I received with the phone is incorrect. They do support 911 in the USA and the calls are free.

 

[madmax718]

Yes it does. It basically means that there is no way to have a usable sat phone if the account isn't active. So if you think you might need one, you better have an activation, otherwise its just dead weight.

This could have been seriously problematic should it have been World war Z-