Hard on the heels of Sprint PCS announcing satellite location-enhanced emergency 911 (E-911) services in the U.S. last week, Europolitan Vodafone has announced plans for a similar set of services for its Swedish cellular users.

While the Sprint PCS service in the U.S. will initially only be available in the Rhode Island area beginning in November, Europolitan says its services should be available nationally later this year. Like the U.S. service, the Swedish facility will use Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to allow the phone to locate itself to within a few yards. This data can then be relayed to an emergency call center. Europolitan's new service results from a partnership with Nordic Alarm, the Swedish alarm company, which will receive the GPS location data alongside the emergency call from Europolitan mobile phone users. Initially, Europolitan says it plans to offer the "Personal Alarm" phone service to workers in vulnerable professions. Plans are also in hand to extend the service to other appropriate users, including victims of domestic violence, as well as the disabled and elderly. Pricing on the new service has yet to be announced. The mobile phones to be used for the Personal Alarm service have yet to be confirmed, but the only GSM handset currently available with GPS facilities is the Benefon Track, which supports the mobile phone telematics protocol (MPTP). The dual-band GSM 900/1800 handset, which uses GPS technology from SiRF of California, offers advanced navigation and mapping facilities to users, all within a standard-sized mobile phone casing that is both water and shock resistant.