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September 06, 2004
Voice over IP/emergency services over the internet
Ofcom’s consultation (see last entry) lasts until 15 November.
They are asking whether VoIP networks should be required to include access to 999 emergency numbers. VoIP phones can access ordinary numbers so this is a rather odd question anyway, but I wonder if anyone could seriously suggest that (largely) foreign networks should provide services that our own local police, ambulance and fire services are unwilling to provide themselves.
No emergency services in Britain are available over the net, as far as I know, despite the fact that the internet may be our only effective means of communications in a disaster or terrorist attack (e.g. the Kobe earthquake of 1995).
Posted by Simon Holledge at September 6, 2004 03:55 PM