911 on deactivated cell phones

I was perusing the Chicago Tribune today as I always do, it is one of my 4 online newspaper subscriptions. An interesting article caught my eye of a 4 year old who had made nearly 300 calls to 911. Never was there an emergency and never were the operators able to track the call except to an apartment complex. Using their cunning and wits to outsmart the 4 year old (after 300 calls) they asked what she wanted, she said McDonalds and they asked for her address so they could deliver it. That took care of the calls.

The calls were being made however on a deactivated cell phone. All cell phones, even when deactivated must still be able to dial 9-1-1. As a matter of fact if you have an activated cell phone, you are paying for everyone with a deactivated phone to be able to call 9-1-1. Now I am not saying this is a bad thing I mean emergencies do happen and people should be able to call 9-1-1. I guess my complaint with this is that why does I have to pay for it? I don't have a home phone and I know many people who don't, but in the event you do have a land line home phone, when it gets disconnected you cant dial 9-1-1. Why is it so important for a cell phone to have free 9-1-1 service but a land line not? Do more accidents happen outside of the home than in the home? What is the reasoning, any thoughts are appreciated.