The Federal Communications Commission has announced plans that it requires all mobiles phones to sport GPS chips embedded, by 2018. The goal is to improve 911 services by increasing location tracking and accuracy to better assist during emergencies. Most smartphones already sport GPS by default, but a number of platform feature phones still rely on cell tower triangulation for location services, a process that is not as accurate as GPS.

The FCC notes that without the ruling, there should be 85% of mobile phones packing GPS, the plan also includes all VoIP-based products, too. This new plan is just a few months ahead of the FCC's previous announcement of a five-step action plan to improve deployment of next-generation 911 (NG911). NG911's plan is to include the ability for users in distress to send texts, photos and video streams directly to 911 operators, all of which would considerably speed up and improve rescue efforts. No date is set for NG911 as of yet.