Companies can meet the mandate by adding location technology to their networks or to the handsets that consumers carry. For carriers that select the latter option, including Verizon Wireless, Cingular in some markets and Sprint PCS, consumers are likely to have to buy new phone models to make it work. The industry's top lobbying group say companies want to enhance phone safety features but must make sure the systems and equipment are ready to go. This is brand new technology. It takes time and effort to integrate it with the existing system.
Wireless executives point out that they have a strong profit incentive to add location technology.
It opens the door to vast potential commercial applications. For example, using location technology, companies could send wireless coupons for a sale as a cell phone user walks by a store or offer traffic updates for a driver in a specific area. But the most attractive application still is the ability to use that phone in an emergency, says Oliver Hilsenrath, chairman of U.S. Wireless, which has developed a wireless location technology. That's why people say they buy cell phones. Hilsenrath predicts that once the first wireless companies begin offering 911 location, consumer demand will force other carriers to add it.