Emergency services to track mobile 999 calls

A mobile tracking system has been developed for the emergency services to locate and help people who dial 999 - as well as catching those who make hoax calls.

It has been developed by the UK's mobile operators - O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3 - in conjunction with BT and Cable & Wireless, who connect 999 calls dialled from mobile phones to the emergency services.

The emergency services will be able to locate mobile 999 callers from the mast nearest to them and a mapping system will calculate the coordinates.

The service will work better in urban areas, tracing callers to within a 200m radius, while in some rural areas the tracking will only be able to pinpoint a caller to within a 20km area.

The scheme was initiated and directed by telecoms watchdog Oftel, which has now become part of the communications industry regulator Ofcom.

It is expected to be operational in the next few months and Ofcom said it could help save lives through faster response times from the police, ambulance and fire services, as well as catching hoax callers.

Peter Walker, senior adviser for Ofcom's technology strategy group, said over half of the 43 million 999 calls each year are made from mobile handsets.

"The enhanced service represents a major step forward in helping the emergency services to respond to calls from mobile users as speedily as possible," he said.

Just last year several private sector mobile tracking services were launched that could allow employers to monitor the location of staff.