Ohio lawmakers are attempting to keep the 911 emergency call center infrastructure in tandem with emerging wireless technology by strategically phasing their legislation.

House Bill 550, introduced Tuesday by Rep. Larry Flowers, extends until 2013 a 32-cent monthly surcharge for 911 service imposed by wireless providers. Those funds are then distributed to Ohio's counties via the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's 911 Council and Advisory Board to upgrade emergency call center technology.

The hardware and software necessary for the 911 call centers, or Primary Safety Answering Points, of various sheriff departments, townships and counties to achieve basic emergency call information such as location and number of origin has been made complex by the emergence of cellular phones, calling into play global positioning services and triangulation technology.

"With the ever-increasing number of wireless phones being used in Ohio and an ever-increasing number of people using wireless phones as their primary phone lines, the need for enhanced wireless 911 service is growing exponentially," said Flowers.

Because funds are distributed by the PUCO according to the number of billing addresses associated with cell phones, the preponderance of funds have been allocated to Ohio's urban areas. Flowers' bill rectifies that disparity by lifting the annual fund disbursement cap for each county from $25,000 to $90,000.

"$25,000 was not enough for rural counties to upgrade equipment because of a minimum number of phones. It'll be a little bit less for bigger counties, but not enough to bother them," said Flowers, R-Canal Winchester.

According to Flowers, only 38 of Ohio's counties have implemented all phases of the wireless enhancements.

"Inadequate funding and the inability to sustain services have resulted in some counties questioning the viability and liability of even deploying if there is no funding to sustain the services," said Flowers.

Shawn Smith, 911 coordinator for the PUCO, said the increase in funds is necessary for Ohio's rural areas.

"It's needed to provide more funding to smaller counties where they don't have the population base to get the appropriate revenue," said Smith.

The current revenue infrastructure for cellular 911 calls was established in 2005 with House Bill 361, signed into law by then-Gov. Bob Taft. Funding is distributed to individual counties for 911 upgrades, additional equipment and staff training.

HB 361 filled an initial technological void by creating a statewide system of location identification so police, fire and EMS crews can be dispatched to the location of an emergency.

Funding for the enhanced wireless 911 capabilities was made possible with the initial 32-cent monthly surcharge from wireless providers. Wireless companies could then pay for their own technological upgrades and pass additional funds on to the PUCO, enabling the same number and location identification that was previously available with hardlines.

This legislation was passed with the inclusion of a "Sunset Provision" which has an effective date of Dec. 31.

Flowers' newly introduced HB 550 extends the "Sunset Provision" to Dec. 31, 2012.

"We are supportive of the legislators' position to extend the surcharge. They are working with telecom providers on the bill and we are supportive of their efforts," said Caryn Candisky, director of public affairs for AT&T Ohio.

Flowers said he could not decide whether emerging technology and growing popularity of cell phones would result in an eventual increase or decrease in the current surcharge.

"There may be some people that would argue that number could be less than 32 cents but I'm convinced that we need to leave it at 32 cents," said Flowers, adding that there are more than 6 million cell phones currently in use in Ohio.

Flowers, a former fire chief and engineer for one of Franklin County's original 911 call centers built in the 1980's, anticipates that legislators will in the future be made to further adjust legislation due to cellular advancements such as text messaging and digital photographs.

"Hardware gets cheaper but software gets more expensive and who knows what else may be available down the road," said Flowers.