911 Capability Differs by County

RALEIGH — Cellular-phone customers may think their service includes access to anything and anyone they need 24 hours a day, but the value of the technological wonder will depend on which county customers are in when they make the call to 911 for help. The uneven capability to detect a cell caller’s location exists despite the fact that the state’s wireless users have paid more than $125 million in monthly cell-phone surcharges since 1997 to upgrade systems that serve the growing cell-phone market. One issue: Gov. Mike Easley and the General Assembly have used nearly $41 million of the earmarked funds to help balance the state budget, and may take $25 million more in 2005.