A pilot program unveiled on Tuesday will allow national security and emergency personnel in Washington and New York to use mobile phones to speed calls through overloaded wireless and landline networks that blocked calls on Sept. 11.
Across the United States, people tried to find out the fate of their loved ones by using mobile telephones but had little success of reaching them after the commercial jetliners crashed into major landmarks killing thousands last September.
Emergency personnel and government officials with the right authority and code could get most calls through originating from traditional landlines but no national priority access system exists for growing wireless networks that made it difficult to coordinate the response to the crisis.
"We have a pilot program for wireless priority services with VoiceStream that we are going to put in New York City and Washington, D.C., probably in the May timeframe," said Brent Greene, deputy manager of the National Communications System, which coordinates some U.S. emergency communications.
News source: Reuters - U.S. to Start Wireless Priority Access Trial in May
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