MONTREAL — As few as 30 per cent of Canadian cellphone users could be accurately located when calling 911 under an improved system that will be launched next February, a report says.

"You're missing a big hunk of the mobile phone using population," said IDC Canada vice-president Lawrence Surtees, who authored the study.

Most 911 calls are now made from cellphones and Canada is lagging behind the United States and Europe when it comes to offering improved 911 services on these devices, Surtees said Monday.

A number of Canadians have died after making 911 calls from cellphones because emergency dispatchers couldn't specify their locations.

Wireless network operators have until February to provide location-based service under a recent ruling by the federal broadcast regulator, the CRTC.

But most mobile phone users won't experience the enhanced 911 service, IDC said, because their phones either need to be GPS-enabled or wireless service providers have to deploy technology network-wide that can better pinpoint locations.

Surtees also said the CRTC hasn't mandated that wireless carriers provide location information for 911 calls made on pre-paid mobile phones, often used by lower income Canadians.

Public safety officials would like the CRTC to take a bigger leadership role in co-operating with municipalities in setting national wireless policies and standards for 911 calls on cellphones, said the report.

"This is one of the first times I have heard anybody say I want the CRTC to do more," said Surtees, communications research principal analyst.

"Normally, everybody wants the CRTC to go away."

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association represents the wireless carriers such as Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B). Bell Mobility (TSX:BCE) and Telus Corp. (TSX:T) and said it's complying with the CRTC decision.

Association president Bernard Lord said how consumers experience the enhanced 911 system depends on what kind of mobile phone they have, where they live and their access to wireless networks.

"The CRTC has not, to this point, signalled that it will force new handsets on consumers," said Lord, former premier of New Brunswick.

"I think consumers should check with their providers to see, depending on which handsets they have, what services they will get if they call the 911 service and speak."

Lord said the wireless carriers are improving their networks so that information that is captured from a mobile phone can be sent to emergency responders as a street address.

The next phase is to upgrade the system to allow emergency responders to pinpoint the location of people who are unable to speak.

Lord said the CRTC is already involved in the improvements and there's co-operation between all of the players. The February deadline is expected to be met, he added.

The IDC report also noted that out-of-country visitors to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics wouldn't be accurately located if they placed a 911 call on their mobile phones. These callers would need to roam to a local network when they placed such calls.

"If you're from out-of-territory, another province, or another country, that's one of the aspects that's being put over past February 2010 to a time frame to be determined later," said Surtees.

Surtees said the CRTC ruling didn't set up a requirement to provide location information for cellphone users that dial 911 but are roaming on another network provider.

If you are in a condo, office tower, of apartment building, emergency responders won't know what floor the 911 cellphone call came from, Surtees said.

"It doesn't tell you the altitude. It's still incumbent on us as citizens to know that and try to be location aware."