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Rollout could happen within 10 months

Mobile phones may receive Presidential and Imminent Threat alerts as text messages across the country as the Federal Communications Commission approved rules for a new wireless warning system.

Wireless users who currently receive Amber Alerts for missing children on their phones should have the ability to pick up additional warnings across the country within the next 10 months.

The FCC will support the implementation of the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS). FCC summarized the alerts devices would receive under the system:

• Presidential Alerts - national emergency-related alerts delivered to the American public that would preempt any other pending alerts;
• Imminent Threat Alerts - alerts with information on emergencies that may pose an imminent risk to people’s lives or well-being; and
• Child Abduction Emergency/AMBER Alerts - alerts related to missing or endangered children due to an abduction or runaway situation.

"This system has the potential to significantly impact they way Americans receive critical warnings on the go, whether they are at home, work, or vacationing," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement. He encouraged wireless carriers to fully participate in the CMAS initiative.