Staff Sgt. Nassim Rizvi guards an F-15 Eagle on the flightline at Otis Air National Guard Base here during a warm winter sunset Dec. 23. Sergeant Rizvi is assigned to the 102nd Fighter Wing Security Forces.
RECENT CONTENT:
» Earmarks up and down
August 19th, 2008
» Stevens makes nice profit
August 19th, 2008
» Musharraf resigns control
August 18th, 2008
» Downturn is good news
August 17th, 2008
» Russian attacks looming?
August 17th, 2008
FCC approves cell phone alert system
By: VOA News | Submitted on: 04/18/08WASHINGTON D.C. (VOA) - When disaster strikes, the Federal Communications Commission wants to make sure that as many Americans as possible know about it. The Emergency Alert System just approved by the FCC would send out warnings to cell phones about terrorist threats and imminent natural disasters. Law enforcement agencies could also use the system to held find missing children.
"The country has had for a very long time a very effective emergency broadcast system," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says. "What this is going to do is put that same kind of emergency alert capability in everyone's pocket."
The wireless industry strongly supports the initiative. Participation would be voluntary, and cell phone users could opt out of the system.
"It's my lifeline. It's how I stay connected to my friends and family," a female cell phone user says.
A male cell phone user adds "I couldn't survive without it. One is a BlackBerry [wireless communication device] and one is a cell phone."
"It is so essential that I always carry it with me," another user said.
Many universities already have emergency message alert systems in the wake of the mass killings at Virginia Tech University. Last April, a lone gunman killed 32 students before killing himself.
Regional warnings would come from federal or state officials, and the president will continue to have sole responsibility for issuing nationwide alerts.
The FCC says the cell phone alert service could be in place by 2010.
"The country has had for a very long time a very effective emergency broadcast system," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says. "What this is going to do is put that same kind of emergency alert capability in everyone's pocket."
The wireless industry strongly supports the initiative. Participation would be voluntary, and cell phone users could opt out of the system.
"It's my lifeline. It's how I stay connected to my friends and family," a female cell phone user says.
A male cell phone user adds "I couldn't survive without it. One is a BlackBerry [wireless communication device] and one is a cell phone."
"It is so essential that I always carry it with me," another user said.
Many universities already have emergency message alert systems in the wake of the mass killings at Virginia Tech University. Last April, a lone gunman killed 32 students before killing himself.
Regional warnings would come from federal or state officials, and the president will continue to have sole responsibility for issuing nationwide alerts.
The FCC says the cell phone alert service could be in place by 2010.
The Voice of America (VOA), which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service that reaches a worldwide audience of more than 115 million people.
