Emergency 911 calls with expired SIM

**Ceara** · 04-07-2011, 12:54 PM

Does anyone know for sure whether it's possible to call 911 from a phone with an expired Fido SIM?

Published information is vague on this topic. Obviously it shouldn't be tested without an actual emergency, but you wouldn't want to be trying it for the first time in an emergency.

I have an old Fido phone with an expired SIM. It shows no network connection. The Fido (Rogers) network can't be selected. It's not possible to call Fido (e.g., *46 or 611).

I have a feeling that in Canada the situation may be:
- You can call 911 from a phone with a valid SIM, even if the account has no credit
- You cannot call 911 from a phone with an expired SIM, or with no SIM, because the phone will not even connect to the network.

**z24gta** · 04-07-2011, 12:57 PM

You can call 911 without a sim,without airtime and with an expired sim. Anytime you dial 911 it will go through.

**Ceara** · 04-07-2011, 04:02 PM

If the phone is not connected to any network, how does it know which network to use to make the call?

Can you point to a definitive statement on this by the carrier, or by a government regulatory agency? Or do you know someone who has actually tried it?

**Paolo** · 04-07-2011, 05:29 PM

911 must work even if your phone has no balance or no sim. its mandated by the government. if your rogers 3g phone is not near any rogers tower, it will make the 911 call on a bellus tower if there is a 3g bellus tower near. This has always been the case.

**jattdesi** · 04-07-2011, 07:01 PM

I have had to call 911 about 6 times in my lifetime and I always hate it, when they ask you for your name and in some cases your address and a whole bunch of other questions, so one day there was a car which looked like it was a stolen ditched in front of my house, so what I did was, I removed my Sim Card from the phone and then made the call to 911 and what do you know they knew nothing about where I called from which city I was in, what my phone number was, I provided them the info about where it was parked and the plate number.

So Yes OP you should be able to call 911 when there is no balance or expired sim, as long as you are in a Cell Phone coverage area.

**Bad Liar** · 04-07-2011, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by jattdesi

I have had to call 911 about 6 times in my lifetime and I always hate it, when they ask you for your name and in some cases your address and a whole bunch of other questions, so one day there was a car which looked like it was a stolen ditched in front of my house, so what I did was, I removed my Sim Card from the phone and then made the call to 911 and what do you know they knew nothing about where I called from which city I was in, what my phone number was, I provided them the info about where it was parked and the plate number.

So Yes OP you should be able to call 911 when there is no balance or expired sim, as long as you are in a Cell Phone coverage area.

Curious, but why would you care if 911 knew of your information? It's not like they'll sell it, lol

**ircu** · 04-08-2011, 01:37 AM

Originally Posted by Bad Liar

Curious, but why would you care if 911 knew of your information? It's not like they'll sell it, lol

They are stealing his Mhz.

**jattdesi** · 04-08-2011, 05:33 AM

Originally Posted by Bad Liar

Curious, but why would you care if 911 knew of your information? It's not like they'll sell it, lol

The Reason is I am calling to report a crime/problem not calling to provide my personal info.
I shoudn't have to give my personal info when calling 911, in addition to asking your name they ask you where you live and a whole bunch of other questions

**Bad Liar** · 04-08-2011, 10:20 AM

So what does it matter?

**Ceara** · 04-08-2011, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by jattdesi

... I removed my Sim Card from the phone and then made the call to 911 ...So Yes OP you should be able to call 911 when there is no balance or expired sim, as long as you are in a Cell Phone coverage area.

Thanks, that seems to confirm that it works. People say there is a government regulation, but if so I can't find any actual reference to it.

**syzuie** · 04-08-2011, 02:41 PM

I have tested it before and it works.

**XtremeResident** · 04-08-2011, 10:17 PM

Don't we pay a fixed amount ($0.50 is it?) to have access to dialing 911?

If so then why are we paying for the service when someone with an expired sim doesn't!?

Sent from my iPhone 4 using HowardForums app

**Ceara** · 04-09-2011, 10:24 AM

We pay a monthly fee for Enhanced 911, which automatically sends address information associated with the phone number to the 911 answering centre. The e911 fee varies anywhere from $0.50/month to $1.50/month for land lines, cell phones, and VoIP lines, depending on just how much the company claims that it costs them to maintain an address database (astonishing that it can cost $1.50 per month to keep an address in a database, isn't it?). As noted above, there is no e911 feature with an expired SIM or no SIM - you would have to tell them your address when you make an emergency call. But presumably they would still get current location information for cell phones, which is probably more important.

**Ceara** · 04-11-2011, 10:37 AM

BTW, I asked Fido about this issue too, and they did not respond. But I'd trust actual user experience over a response from Customer Service anyway.

**ppa** · 04-11-2011, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by XtremeResident

Don't we pay a fixed amount ($0.50 is it?) to have access to dialing 911?

If so then why are we paying for the service when someone with an expired sim doesn't!?

Sent from my iPhone 4 using HowardForums app

I look at it the same way I look at taxes. The population pays for services they may never need so that others have access to it in times of need such as health care, school taxes, and public transportation. Though I haven't gone to the hospital in several years, don't have kids in school, and drive most of the time, I'll gladly pay since our quality of life is much better knowing those services are available. I think 911 funding easily falls in that category.