.....Some states and the Federal Communications Commission also are looking at ways to broadcast terrorism, crime and natural disaster alerts.
Einstein Wireless, a small rural operator in Wisconsin, is offering an emergency broadcasting text-message service in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In California, Lt. Gov. John Garamendi proposed to the state senate in May a statewide emergency alert system that will include broadcasting text messages to any cellphone in the area in which an emergency situation has occurred. The FCC has formed an advisory group looking into a nation-wide emergency alert system that could use text messaging in similar ways.
But the privacy and cost issues related to this type of alert system could prove challenging. The text-message bomb .......
HIGH-TECH WARNINGS By FRANKIE EDOZIEN September 20, 2007 -- In the aftermath of the Deutsche Bank fire and the Midtown steam-pipe explosion, city officials yesterday announced they will begin testing rapid-alert programs to rush text messages to New Yorkers' cellphones. Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler told lawmakers at a City Council hearing that a pilot program using text messages as an early-alert system for communities will be ready to roll out within a few months. "We expect to launch the pilot at the end of this year. At the same time, we are wary of it, because we know that the communications infrastructure isn't as reliable as we would like," he said of brief text messages that would be limited to 60 characters. Skyler said text messaging is a low priority for mobile-phone companies, and that the carriers have yet to commit to ensuring that the messages would be delivered within an hour. "We are skeptical of the technology, but we believe it deserves a try. We haven't picked a neighborhood yet," he said. The Bloomberg administration has its eyes on what could be a more effective alert system that would use mobile-phone networks to send emergency messages to anyone carrying a phone within a specific swath of the city. Called "cell broadcasting," the alert system would require mobile-phone companies to make upgrades to their infrastructure - changes that City Hall is pushing for. "It is not possible for us to use cell broadcasting today, because wireless carriers have resisted investing resources in this emerging technology," Skyler said. But Skyler said the city is working on several fronts, including an e-mail alert program that will be tested next month in lower Manhattan by the Office of Emergency Management. The e-mail alert program will be available to anyone who signs up for it. After the hearing, council Speaker Christine Quinn said the private sector has to step up and help to improve the ability to deliver emergency messages. "We didn't hear government holding us back, we heard the corporate sector holding us back. That was not what I anticipated," said Quinn. "Yes, they are corporate entities, but they have a responsibility in this post-9/11 world." Lower Manhattan residents were furious over what they said was a lack of information and warnings about toxins released into the air following the fire at the Deutsche Bank building last month. The tower - damaged by the toppling World Trade Center - is filled with asbestos and other toxins, and is now being dismantled. Federal air-monitoring detected traces of potentially hazardous dioxins released briefly during the fire. Similar concerns were raised after the Con Ed steam-pipe explosion beneath Lexington Avenue near Grand Central Terminal this summer. frankie.edozien*nypost.com
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