Business

4 major phone carriers providing text-to-911

By Wilson Ring
Published May 19, 2014 11:01pm ET
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4 major phone carriers providing text-to-911
FILE--In this April 18, 2012, file photo, David Tucker, executive director of Vermont's Enhanced 911 Board, holds a smart phone in Montpelier, Vt. Tucker says the state is the first in the country where customers of the four major wireless carriers can send text messages to 911. As of Monday, May 19, 2014, T-Mobile customers in Vermont are now able to text 911. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint began the service earlier. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, file) | Toby Talbot

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The four major U.S. wireless phone companies are providing emergency texting 911 service as of this month to any local government that wants it and has the capability to use it, a big step toward moving the nation’s emergency dispatch system out of the voice-only technology that dates to the 1960s.

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