DHS Urged To Explore FM Alert System For Cell Phones
November 10, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski are being urged by House members to explore the potential benefits of including FM radio tuners in mobile telephone handsets as part of a national alert system.
The letter notes that the Warning Alert and Response Network Act of 2006 authorized the mobile industry to create an emergency alert system and continues, “It is our understanding that incorporating FM radio tuners in mobile phones could help achieve this goal. Radio’s emergency alert system is a proven, reliable service.”
Hundreds of millions of cellphones worldwide have FM tuners, the lawmakers note, but only a handful of devices available in the U.S. market offer radios. They write, “There is no excuse for American consumers’ access to advanced technology to lag behind that available worldwide.”
The lawmakers say that, with EAS information available via mobile handsets through FM Radio, “Everyone involved, including the American public and public safety officials, as well as the mobile phone and broadcasting industries, stands to benefit.”
