CELL PHONE FEES EXTENDED TO COMPUTER PHONING

(04/04/2006)
If you have one of those great deals that use your computer to make phone calls, you are now subject to a $3 911 fee.

The same 911 fees users are paying on cellular phones now apply to computer phone calling.

The change is part of legislation that state lawmakers approved during the last legislative session.

"It gives us the authorization to include all of the different manners in which 911 can be accessed," says Joe Thornton with the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety.

Five-percent of that money from the cellular phones and the computers used as phones goes to a fund that's paying for work on a statewide emergency communications system.

"It's absolutely critical to have everyone on the same page, in terms of communications," says Thornton.