Alberta to study 911 fee for cells

[Tik-Tok]

A s more Albertans turn to their cellphones to report an emergency, the provincial government has begun a sweeping review to determine whether it should charge a 911 fee to help finance municipal dispatch centres.

Most provinces mandate a monthly 911 fee on cells, ranging from 40 cents in Quebec to 62 cents in Saskatchewan.

While Albertans pay 44 cents monthly on their land-line bills to help fund local emergency call centres -- a nationwide tariff required by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission -- 911 fees collected by some cellphone service providers are kept by companies.

The money does not filter to municipalities in this province.

The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association has been lobbying the Stelmach government to address this gap; so has the City of Calgary.

"Anything that we can do to encourage sustainable funding for public safety in the province is something that's desirable," said Steve Dongworth, manager of Calgary's public safety communications centre.

A provincial review of the issue is underway, led by the Municipal Affairs department.

The probe involves about nine government departments and, although the review began last fall, it remains in its early stages, said Municipal Affairs Minister Hector Goudreau.

WTF???? So the 911 fees we've been paying for years, never actually goes to emergency services?

[derpderp]

[DonJuan]

A big F U to the phone companies. Another big F U to Alberta government for taking this long.

New slogan:
REPORT IMPAIRED DRIVERS... GIVE CELLPHONE PROVIDERS YOUR MONEY.

[Modelexis]

For all the people that are outraged about losing 44 cents a month, you realize 44c is lost every time you buy something worth about $10 or more in the form of GST.
I don't wanna be the one to break the bad news to you, but that money also does not go where you dream it to go, but rather probably goes to pay off the interest in the national debt.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by Modelexis
For all the people that are outraged about losing 44 cents a month, you realize 44c is lost every time you buy something worth about $10 or more in the form of GST.
I don't wanna be the one to break the bad news to you, but that money also does not go where you dream it to go, but rather probably goes to pay off the interest in the national debt.

GST is helping our government operate (though badly), this $0.44 surcharge isn't going towards anything but Telus's pocket (or whatever cell provider you use).

What if gas stations started charging a "911 fee"? Or restaurants? That wouldn't upset you in the least? Especially when it has nothing to do with actual emergency services?

[xxviet]

i swear in the past 5 years...ive maybe called the cops 2 times.
i dont even think there should be a monthly charge with "911 fees" you should only be charged only when you use it. damn cell phone companies..first contract then making us pay for shiz MOST of us dont use

[speedog]

Well, actually TELUS Mobility isn't anymore and they're even telling you about it at http://www.telusmobility.com/en/AB/s...ndsimple.shtml

Now this is assuming you're on this plan (I guess?). Never the less, are any of the keyboard critics in this thread actually going to do anything about this other than pound out some complaints in this thread?

[Modelexis]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


GST is helping our government operate (though badly), this $0.44 surcharge isn't going towards anything but Telus's pocket (or whatever cell provider you use).

What if gas stations started charging a "911 fee"? Or restaurants? That wouldn't upset you in the least? Especially when it has nothing to do with actual emergency services?

It's part of the contract, I'm pretty sure it's written in there that there will be a fee for 911.

What would happen if other companies started charging these extra fees? the same thing that happens when gas prices go up 40c a month like they have been for the past 10 yrs.

You are paying retarded fees for all kinds of retarded shit in any company you deal with, only difference here is they are telling you the breakdown, where gas or restaurants don't give you a breakdown as to where your bill goes to.

This is the same point I was trying to make with GST, if you actually had a breakdown as to where even 40c bits of your taxes went I bet you would be much more pissed off than this stupid 911 fee that doesn't make even .0000001% of an impact on your daily life.

Can we all please be concerned with the 30-40% of our wages that are removed and then we can worry about telus overcharging 40c?

[Jay911]

Originally posted by xxviet
i dont even think there should be a monthly charge with "911 fees" you should only be charged only when you use it.

That becomes a real slippery situation when you go down that path. You only need read stories about people not paying for ridiculous "subscription" fire departments and then getting screwed over when their house burns and nobody comes to put it out - or, worse yet, the people who call 9-1-1 and the first thing on their mind is not the loved one injured at their feet, but what it's going to cost them. You don't want that in this world.

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
What if gas stations started charging a "911 fee"? Or restaurants? That wouldn't upset you in the least? Especially when it has nothing to do with actual emergency services?

As much as I agree with your sentiment and disagree with what the phone companies have been doing, gas stations and restaurants don't do anything toward getting you help in an emergency, while telephone companies do - they handle your call. They are also required by law to handle 9-1-1 calls even if the cellphone is unregistered (i.e. no phone #, no SIM card, no bill) or from another carrier (i.e. if a Rogers cell is on a Telus tower). That right there costs them money they can't recoup because the caller, by definition, has no monetary connection with the telco provider.

All you guys griping about 44 cents - when 9-1-1 was in its infancy in rural Alberta, I can recall paying $6.95 a month for the "911 System Access Fee".

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Jay911


As much as I agree with your sentiment and disagree with what the phone companies have been doing, gas stations and restaurants don't do anything toward getting you help in an emergency, while telephone companies do - they handle your call. They are also required by law to handle 9-1-1 calls even if the cellphone is unregistered (i.e. no phone #, no SIM card, no bill) or from another carrier (i.e. if a Rogers cell is on a Telus tower). That right there costs them money they can't recoup because the caller, by definition, has no monetary connection with the telco provider.

All you guys griping about 44 cents - when 9-1-1 was in its infancy in rural Alberta, I can recall paying $6.95 a month for the "911 System Access Fee".

QFT

while it may not go directly to 911 call centers, the 911 fees collected by rogers, bell and telus go towards the technology behind the 911 service as Jay mentioned.

[thetransporter]

911 works from an unactivated cell phone, so i really dont mind paying the 50 cents that also supports people who could be in situations and for whatever reason their account was disconnected/disconnect in error/had a money problem, or simply forgot to pay the bill.

buy the "system access fee" and other fees should go

[asifka]

Originally posted by xxviet
i swear in the past 5 years...ive maybe called the cops 2 times.
i dont even think there should be a monthly charge with "911 fees" you should only be charged only when you use it. damn cell phone companies..first contract then making us pay for shiz MOST of us dont use

It wont be 44 cents if 911 fees is charged per use.

[Scat E46]

Originally posted by Modelexis
For all the people that are outraged about losing 44 cents a month, you realize 44c is lost every time you buy something worth about $10 or more in the form of GST.
I don't wanna be the one to break the bad news to you, but that money also does not go where you dream it to go, but rather probably goes to pay off the interest in the national debt.

Think a little, 44 cents times a lot of freaking customers is a lot of freaking money.

[clem24]

Originally posted by Jay911
I can recall paying $6.95 a month for the "911 System Access Fee".

Not exactly. The carriers used to levy a $6.95 SYSTEM ACCESS FEE that was supposed to go to the government but never did. Then Nokia started putting in 911 as the default speed dial number for the 9 key. False 911 calls increased a gazillion fold and the government proposed a 75 cent 911 fee to help offset the increased costs to 911 centers. The carriers started charging it but no one in government ever collected it.

Anyway, if you're on a OLD Telus plan or a long time Telus customer like me, then it's more than likely that you're still being charged the system access fee as well as the 911 fee. Newer plans have "done away" with the fee and by done away, I mean the price of the plan is just higher to offset the revenue.

I actually let them charge this fee as a result extending an old plan that's a great deal (EPP1730) so even with the fee, my monthly charges are only $26 (150 anytime, free evenings+weekends starting at 6, CID, Voicemail, 250 out/unlimited incoming text plus a free E71).

[Jay911]

Originally posted by clem24
Not exactly. The carriers used to levy a $6.95 SYSTEM ACCESS FEE that was supposed to go to the government but never did.

Fair enough, mea culpa.

Originally posted by clem24
Then Nokia started putting in 911 as the default speed dial number for the 9 key. False 911 calls increased a gazillion fold

Just so you know, your friendly neighborhood 911 center (pretty much any one of them anywhere in North America) still gets a metric assload of these "butt dials" every day, and they curse every last one of them. If there's any PSA I can personally do, it's lock your keypad and disable the one-touch emergency speed-dial. 911 is a short number and is designed that way for quick dialing - you don't need it in a speed-dial which you can activate with a long press from a finger.. or a set of keys.. or your sunglasses.. or your gluteus maximus.. or any random thing in your purse/pocket.. or...

[bignerd]

Originally posted by Jay911


or, worse yet, the people who call 9-1-1 and the first thing on their mind is not the loved one injured at their feet, but what it's going to cost them. You don't want that in this world.

They already have this in the states, I was saying good bye to friend and she tripped on a curb and broke her ankle-the first thing she says "Don't call me an ambulance" because she didn't have insurance to pay for the ride.