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Some companies, known as Voice over Internet Protocol providers, have been voluntarily collecting a fee for 911 service and giving it to the state or counties. But starting this month all VoIP companies are required to charge the monthly fee, said Robb Wentz, director of Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency's bureau of 911 services. The fee will be assessed for service that began after Thursday.
Pennsylvania is at least the 16th state with a 911 fee on VoIP users, according to a January report by Mark J. O'Connor, a telecommunications lawyer in Washington, D.C.
To pay for 911 center improvements, including a key feature that allows dispatchers to automatically see the address of callers, the state started charging the fees in 1990. That's when owners of landline phones began paying $1, $1.25 or $1.50 per line a month, depending upon the size of the county in which they live. Wireless phone users started paying a $1 monthly fee starting in 2003.
The money -- collected by counties or the state, which distributes funds back to the counties -- isn't enough to pay communication center operating costs, Wentz said.
Statewide, the total cost of running 911 centers last year was nearly $244.4 million, yet fees on landline and wireless phones brought in $185.8 million, meaning taxpayers made up the difference.
In Bucks County, for example, landline and wireless fees accounted for about half of the $10.6 million cost of its 911 center, according to PEMA. In Northampton County, the fees covered about 60 percent of the $4.9 million cost.
Fees on VoIP phones should bring in additional revenue, but 911 centers will still have a shortfall.
Wentz said PEMA conservatively estimated 500,000 VoIP users statewide. At that figure, the state would collect about $6 million a year.
New Jersey-based Vonage, one of the larger VoIP companies, has no issue with a 911 fee, "as long as the money is going to 911, and it's fair and equitable across all providers," said company spokesman Stephen Seitz.
Wentz said VoIP companies are obligated to directly connect customers to 911. Because VoIP works differently from landline and wireless phones, people should make sure they provide their home or business address to their providers.
"When you're looking to sign up for Voice over Internet Protocol, you need to really understand and do your homework," Wentz said. "How does this service work with 911?"
Seitz said Vonage asks all customers to provide a residential or business address so it can provide locations to 911 centers.
robert.orenstein@mcall.com
610-820-6133
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