The commission voted August 24 to award $286,749 for equipment to enable the Lincoln Emergency Communications Center (LECC) to identify a caller's cellular telephone number and the cell tower from which the call was transmitted. The grant comes from the E-911 fund administered by the Public Service Commission.
District One Commissioner Frank Landis said, "The grant will enable the LECC to receive wireless calls for help on separate trunk lines from those used by wireline callers."
Documentation for the request submitted by local authorities indicated that the Lincoln emergency center has experienced a significant increase in wireless contacts. Existing equipment has been at capacity for several years due to wireless traffic, and the LECC has expressed a desire to keep their wireless trunk separate from their wireline trunks.
"We don't want a wireless call to choke out a wireline call," Landis said. "They are both important."
The Lincoln emergency center serves all of Lancaster County, including Lincoln, as well as parts of the six counties bordering Lancaster County.
The Public Service Commission was acting upon a recommendation from its E-911 advisory committee that met on August 13.
Financial support for the wireless 911 fund comes from a monthly surcharge of 50 cents on all wireless telephone lines in use in Nebraska.
