(b) Within 36 months of the awarding of a contract to a vendor certified under § 13-900 of the Public Utilities Act to provide Next Generation 9-1-1 service, every 9-1-1 system in Illinois, except in a municipality with a population over 500,000, shall provide Next Generation 9-1-1 service. A municipality with a population over 500,000 shall provide Next Generation 9-1-1 service by January 1, 2026.
     (c) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit or discourage in any way the formation of multijurisdictional or regional systems, and any system established pursuant to this Act may include the territory of more than one public agency or may include a segment of the territory of a public agency.