Utah is one of just four states in the nation that has yet to provide more than 40 percent of its population with enhanced 911 mobile service, according to a recent report by the federal Government Accountability Office.

Moreover, the report placed Utah as the state furthest behind in county-by-county implementation of the first phase of the technology - allowing dispatchers to know the location of the nearest cell tower to the caller.

At the moment, only dispatchers in Tooele and Cache counties are known to state officials as being able to locate all emergency callers. The counties' combined population represents about 6 percent of Utah's total population.

The state's "E911" program manager said Utah is within months of catching up to most other states.

"Does it concern me? No. The need has been recognized. The momentum is building and we're working toward that," Bill Jensen said.

The technology gap in Utah's dispatch system was grimly highlighted in October 2004 when 30-year-old Provo resident Scott Aston died in a botched 911 response. Paramedics were sent to a wrong address and emergency officials had no way to pinpoint the accurate location of the call.

Aston's body was found four days later when family members called asking police to check his apartment.

Provo's upgraded 911 equipment, allowing tracing of the caller's locale, is expected to be up and running April 1.

Jensen attributed Utah's spot on the GAO report to the state's urban-rural divide, noting that more rural counties, often used as playgrounds "by visitors from the Wasatch Front and, virtually, the world," don't have the tax base to sustain their 911 services.

A statewide fund and grant system has helped many rural areas catch up, Jensen said.

He noted that dispatchers in Layton, Bountiful and Iron County are close to having their mobile E911 systems ready.

Iron County communications manger Linda Petty said her dispatch center needs the cooperation of just one more wireless carrier to be fully compliant.

But the state would get its biggest boost on the GAO rankings if Salt Lake County, its major population center, was E911 capable.

Two dispatch centers that share responsibility for getting emergency personnel to the locations of distressed residents in the county where about 40 percent of Utahns live aren't yet able to identify mobile caller locations.

However, officials from the Salt Lake City emergency dispatch center and the Valley Emergency Communications Center say they will be able to track the locations of mobile callers by the end of summer.

Having cleared that hurdle, Jensen said, every remaining dispatch center in Utah should be able to track all mobile callers "in 12 to 24 months."

In that estimate, Utah is running with the pack. Most states intend to complete their mobile E911 programs in the next three years, according to the GAO report.

Three states told GAO officials that it may take five years or longer to finish the transition. And officials from five states - Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Illinois and Wisconsin - said they may never complete their systems.

The Wireless Communica- tions and Public Safety Act of 1999 called on the Federal Communications Commission to promote state efforts toward mobile E911 services. In Utah, telephone owners are taxed 65 cents per line to pay, in addition to federal grants, for E911 system upgrades.

The GAO report found that several states used E911 money for other projects, but Utah was not among them.

mlaplante@sltrib.com