The Department of Homeland Security has been in discussions with wireless companies such as Verizon Wireless and Nextel to take part in a pilot program in Washington, D.C. to develop a system to transmit alerts to cellphones in the event of dangerous weather, terror attacks, or other emergencies. Part of the pilot program will be to determine who would receive emergency messages, and would text messaging play a role in this system.

Homeland Security, which this year was allotted $10 million to address the issue, is seeking to upgrade the Emergency Alert System. EAS uses radio and other analog signals to disseminate geographically targeted text and audio warnings to broadcasters. The audio preempts broadcasts and the text runs at the bottom of TV screens. The system has never been activated nationally, even on Sept. 11, 2001, but local emergency management agencies use it frequently during weather emergencies.

Now the government aims to digitize the system and transmit messages to more devices, including cellphones, in an effort to reach people who aren’t listening to a TV or radio. “The cellphone industry and cellphone providers can be a critical piece to providing targeted alert and warning to their subscribers,” says Reynold Hoover, director of national security coordination at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA is part of the Homeland Security department.