Should they or shouldn’t they be liable?  That is the question the FCC thinks they have an answer to when it comes to the proposed 911 fines against mobile carriers for failure to meet coverage requirements.

Basically what’s going on is this:  ” The FCC levied the fines against Sprint Nextel, Alltel, and U.S. Cellular for failing to meet a Dec. 31, 2005, deadline for having 95 percent of their networks capable of using enhanced 911, an emergency dialing service that gives dispatchers the location of the call.”   Clearly this is a service that very much needs to be addressed, very much needs to be added, and absolutely increases the chances that people in or around an emergency situation will be able to be found, tended to, and hopefully rescued/saved.  The question remains, is it the mobile carriers fault this hasn’t been met as of yet?

If the fines are passed, “Sprint Nextel would pay a fine of just over $1.3 million under the FCC’s proposal, which the carriers can appeal. Alltel’s fine would be $1 million, and U.S. Cellular’s would be $500,000.”   Chump change for them, but hopefully a good slap on the wrist to let them know to get their acts together.  I Guess we’ll see.

What do you think?  Should they be fined?  Should the magic number be 95% coverage or 100%?  Sound off, and then have an amazing weekend…use some WHERE Widgets to find yourself almost anything you need finding!