I had heard the rumor that you can call 911 from any phone activated or not before but had never seen this and the one time I thought about trying my non-activated phone didn’t seem to be capable. As the “Bike Slave” once I voiced my uncertainty on this subject I was told to check up on it and get back to the group.  Naturally I promised to do so …

I finally got through to AT&T wireless services with the question on whether or not a non-activated phone could be used to contact 911.  The official answer was "maybe." It depends on the phone itself and the area's capabilities, however a charged (but not activated) phone should be able to call 911 but there are no guarantees.  According to Sherri with AT&T at 1-800-888-7600 even phones which work one time may not work all the time in some areas.

 The bottom line is that most cell phones, activated or not should be able to contact 911, and ALL should be able to contact 611 (Cellular services) in most areas.  There is no law saying they HAVE to, this is a misnomer in relations to a FCC regulation, “E-911”. The FCC regulation in question requires wireless carriers to transmit all 911 calls without engaging in billing or validation procedures. Calls from subscribers and non-subscribers alike must be forwarded, without delay, to the appropriate public safety operator, pursuant to an FCC order issued on December 1, 1997 (in CC Docket No. 94-102). The FCC has stated that assuring prompt delivery of all 911 calls promotes safety of life and property. Most carriers in the country have met these requirements; however, some may still be in the process of bringing their call processing systems into compliance.

The FCC’s new “E-911” standard doesn’t say 911 services have to be offered to non-activated phones, although many WILL function. 911 calls currently made from wired phones automatically inform the emergency dispatcher of the caller's location, but such a capability is not standard with cellular phones. New standards in the E-911 bill will require cellular phone companies to use satellite-based Global Positioning System technology or other solutions to provide Automatic Location Identification (ALI) capability in all new phones by the end of 2001.