A new law in Hawaii charges cellular telephone users in the islands an additional fee to fund and maintain a $5.9-million-a-year mobile 9-1-1 location system.

The cell phone fee, which took effect July 1, adds 66 cents a month to cellular telephone bills.

In return, consumers across the state will have enhanced 9-1-1 service capable of geographically locating a cell phone caller with the aid of global positioning satellite services, The Honolulu Advertiser reported.

Enhanced 9-1-1 is a service that allows emergency dispatchers to pinpoint the location and phone number of a person without the caller having to say a word.

The tax revenue generated from the new fee will help build wireless towers and other infrastructure needed to connect the service, the newspaper reported. A portion of the funds will go to wireless companies, which are required by federal law to have GPS on all cell phones by 2005.

Hawaii joins 36 other states with the service, Gov. Linda Lingle said, noting that in the islands, mobile phone users place more than half of all emergency calls.