The Court of Justice of the European Union took today an extremely important decision which probably resonates with many Romanians, and which brings a new obligation for 112 si RCS & RDS, Orange, Vodafone, Telekom. In a case of a young woman from Spain, who was kidnapped, raped, and burned alive in the trunk of a car in Lithuania, the CJEU decided that mobile phone operators must locate calls to 112 even if the phone has a SIM or not .
The Lithuanian authorities did not do this in 2013, when the girl called 112, and they could not determine in time that the call did not have an associated phone number either, the phones being capable of calling emergency services without a SIM. The family of the young woman from Spain sued the Lithuanian government, and the Supreme Court of this country asked the CJEU to analyze a provision of the Community legislation that stipulates that 112 is a "universal service".
112. New MAJOR OBLIGATION for RCS & RDS, Orange, Vodafone, Telekom
The CJEU decided that the name "universal service" for 112 also applies to phones without SIM, whose calls must be located by operators, of course within the limits of technical capabilities. This means that RCS & RDS, Orange, Vodafone, Telekom must locate for 112 including those calls that come from SIM-free phones, even if this prevents the identification of people, but the CJEU directive is very clear.
"The police, fire and ambulance services must be able to track the physical location of a caller who has dialed the emergency number 112 - regardless of whether the phone has a SIM card - the European Union's top court ruled on Thursday (Sept. 5) violent crime in Lithuania . The court also found that if there is a direct causal link between the complete failure to comply with EU law and any damage suffered as a result, the Member State can be held liable."
RCS & RDS, Orange, Vodafone, Telekom now have problems locating and identifying calls made from SIM phones, so the new obligation will bring even more problems for a system that is already on its knees. This provision will also render unnecessary the obligation to register the identity of those who call 112 through RCS & RDS, Orange, Vodafone, Telekom using SIM cards, but theoretically the phone's IMEI can be associated with a phone number.
Considering that we are talking about a decision of the CJEU, it becomes mandatory for the EU states, based on the treaties already signed, but from here until something is done in a country like Romania is a very long way.
