Digital age alerts

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | 2:07 a.m.

More than 48 billion text messages are sent every month to cell phones, say officials with the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the wireless industry’s trade association.

And more than 47 billion of those messages are sent by teenagers, or at least that’s what we bet most parents would sardonically say.

In any case, text messaging has become a major means of communication over the past few years a trend that has not gone unnoticed by the Federal Communications Commission, which is updating the nation’s Emergency Alert System.

Anyone under 40 might ask, “The what?” Baby Boomers, of course, remember the EAS for its annoying test signal that frequently interrupted programming on their TVs and radios.

But today the EAS is so outdated that it is rarely used. USA Today reported last week it was not up to the job during Hurricane Katrina and has not proved effective for other emergencies, such as campus shootings or the devastating tornadoes that struck the Southeast in February.

Remarkably, and tellingly, the EAS was not even activated during 9/11.

Recognizing that the Cold War-era alert system needed a major overhaul, Congress in 2006 passed the Warning Alert and Response Network Act. One of its provisions gave a job to the FCC bring the system into the digital age, so that it works with today’s mobile technology.

Last week the FCC approved expanding the system to include a new federal agency that will write and send text messages. The messages will alert users of cell phones and other mobile devices to national emergencies as well as emergencies in their local areas, including Amber Alerts about abducted children.

The messages will not incur a charge, and users may opt out of the program if they wish. The system is expected to be ready in about two years.

This is an example of the federal government, albeit a little late, responding to a genuine need. The alert system’s ability to reach more people with instant news and instructions will undoubtedly save lives.