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Under Federal Communications Commission rules they have until 29 November to ensure that they can route 911 emergency calls directly to despatchers and provide them with the location of the caller.

However before that they must inform customers about types of 911 services available. The catch is that they must disconnect any customer who fails to reply by 29 August.

The VON Coalition, which represents VoIP providers, said that the FCC's rules would hurt business, inconvenience users and even leave some stranded in an emergency situation.

'We are not aware of any other circumstances where the Commission has required service providers to terminate service to their customers, possibly leaving them without any communications services,' it wrote in a letter to the FCC.