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Kingsport Police Department
200 Shelby Street • Kingsport, TN 37660 ThomasMPatton • 423-229-9433 (Desk) • 423-224-2786 (FAX) |
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| NEWS RELEASE | |||
| SUBJECT: | Private Cellular Carrier Experiencing 9-1-1 Calling Issues | ||
| DATE: | March 8, 2017 | ||
| GENERAL NARRATIVE | |||
| On the evening of March 8, 2017, the Kingsport Emergency Communications Center, also known as Kingsport 9-1-1 and Kingsport Central Dispatch, received notification that AT&T Mobility is experiencing a cellular service outage throughout the State of Tennessee.
This issue is impacting customers’ ability to dial 9-1-1 in some areas. There are no issues with Kingsport 9-1-1 or the statewide 9-1-1 system, only with the ability for AT&T Mobility customers’ ability to currently access it. AT&T Mobility is currently working to rectify the problem. In the meantime, if any Kingsport area residents are experiencing an emergency and having difficulty calling 9-1-1, they should immediately hang up and use one of the following alternate methods: 1) Call the Central Dispatch non-emergency number, 423-246-9111, instead, or 2) Dial 9-1-1 from another phone not serviced by the AT&T Mobility cellular network. Citizens are STRONGLY DISCOURAGED from conducting personal evaluations of their phone lines by calling 9-1-1 as a test, as this could inundate Kingsport Central Dispatch with non-emergency test calls and potentially interfere with true emergency communications. An updated release will be issued as soon as Kingsport 9-1-1 is notified that this matter has been resolved. |
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| RELEASING OFFICER | ||
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Thomas M. Patton, Public Information Officer
Kingsport Police Department Professional Standards Unit |
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