Enhanced Emergency Services and MRSI in Jamaica - Ananda Alert meets JAWS

…..cry “havoc” and let slip the dogs of war

Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, III,1

In November 2010, the Government of Jamaica passed what was effectively a MRSI (Mandatory Registration of Subscriber Information) Bill, allowing CCN (Constabulary Communications Network), the Telecoms arm of the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) aka the Jamaican Police the ability to subpoena a Telecom Provider for mobile instrument, call history, Geo-Location or LBS (Location Based Service) information upon whose Network the suspect’s phone is registered.

In effect, Jamaica’s Minister of Security, Senator Dwight Nelson is following the lead of our American and Mexican neighbours in the Western Hemisphere as noted in my blog article entitled “MNP and US Authorities - MRSI Bill to be passed to catch criminals”.

The signing of the Bill had been announced by Senator Daryl Vaz, Minister of Information & Telecommunications and since then nothing more has been heard of the issue, not even public debate or discussions on the matter.

Curious, as with the coming of a new Telecommunications Act and the Telecom Providers getting their own Telecom Regulator modeled off the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in the United States of America as per my Geezam blog article entitled “New Telecom Act Coming for Jamaica – Providers surprised with their Own Regulator“, one would have though there would be more discussion on the issue.

Especially as the coming Telecommunications Act may be used to implement in MNP (Mobile Number Portability) on the Telecom Providers and bring about Flat Rate Cross-Network Calling as stated in my blog article entitled “Telecom Providers get their own Regulator - GOJ says Telecoms For Your Eyes Only”. MRSI and Geo-Location or LBS tools would then be made accessible to the CCN (Constabulary Communications Network), the Telecoms arm of the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) aka the Jamaican Police in their fight against crime!

My blog article entitled “MRSI and MNP - Where the Spies Are”, I explained the benefits of MRSI and its close relationship to MNP (Mobile Number Portability), which would result in cheaper mobile phone instruments and even usher in lower Flat Rate Cross-Network Calling. In my previous blog article entitled “MNP and MRSI - How it leads to Mobile Number Portability and Crime Eradication in Jamaica” I also explained how having mobile phone instruments registered in much the same way motor vehicles are registered would lead to crime eradication in less than five (5) years.

Even the current problem with stray dogs attacking citizens at wanton could be solved and prevented using SIM cards placed in dog collars that are trackable via being registered under MRSI as described in my blog article entitled “MRSI and Stray Dogs - Dr. Dolittle and The Golden Child” and the article “KSA Public Health Department vs Corporate Area Dogs – 101 Dalmatians Kill and Kill Again”.

With financial benefits awaiting the Telecoms Providers in terms of the full utilization of Geo-Location or LBS and M2M (Machine-to-Machine) via the implementation of MRSI, one is left to wonder why Jamaicans have hear little or nothing about this Bill.

This as it seems to have been jointly agreed upon in Parliament and signed quietly into law, but is yet to be implemented by the Telecom Providers actively registering subscribers as suggested in the article “Cabinet approves MRSI Bill”, published Thursday November 18 2010, The Jamaica Gleaner and confirmed by the article “Phone companies to be forced to provide information”, published Friday, November 19, 2010, The Jamaica Observer .

Interestingly, just as the implementation of the Automated Electronic Traffic Ticketing System, the much heralded NRCS (National Road Safety Council) initiative, that should have been implemented in January 2011AD as stated in the article as stated in the article “CCTV speed Traps - Surveillance Cams to track Road Hogs” published Monday July 13, 2009 by Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner requires a contractor, so too does the implementation of MRSI.

This contractor working on behalf of the Government of Jamaica would most likely be funded by the UAFCL (Universal Access Fund Company Limited) much as Telecom Provider LIME and Triple Play Provider FLOW are literally being paid in their own coins to the tune of JA$543 million for the buildout of a Fiber Optics Internet Project to provision speeds of 100MBps, scalable to 1GBps to three (300) Government of Jamaica High School. This as captured in my blog article entitled “LIME, FLOW and the $JA543-million Internet plan - Ebony and Ivory”.

They no doubt would have to work to the approval of the Telecom Providers to set up the databases that will be accessible by both Telecom Providers in a transparent manner that would allow MRSI to not only be implemented, but Enhanced Emergence Services e.g. Enhanced 119. Enhanced 119 is a Geo-Location or LBS based variant of the JCF aka the Jamaican Police 119 service that pinpoints your location at the time of calling in an emergency, thus shaving off critical minutes for the Police and other emergency services in responding to calls about serious crimes.

Aside from eliminating prank callers to 119 and other emergency numbers, it would help to modernize and increase the efficiency of the Jamaican Police in responding to 119 calls by pinpointing the location of the caller at the time of calling, Ananda Alert style. MRSI could then be extended to other emergency services such as Fire and Air and Sea Rescue, thereby aiding in a quicker response in situations where the citizens are unable to communicate verbally when in trouble.

Such a contract would be akin to the Automated Electronic Traffic Ticketing System for the NRCS, now two years and two months (26 months) overdue as noted in my blog article entitled “Motorist, NRCS and the New Traffic Ticket System - Nowhere to Run”. Also, like this just mentioned example, it would leave the lucky contractor licking not only all of their ten (10) finger and (10) toes in delight, but swimming in Mad Money (2008) from the Telecom Providers and the Government of Jamaica’s UAFCL (Universal Access Fund Company Limited).