[EAS] FM Enabled Phones to Receive Emergency Messages

[ray at electronicstheory.com]

Most of the arguments I've heard against using the FM in the phone are a moot
point.

Perhaps I'm completely off base - but it would seem to me that since nearly ALL
FM radio stations across the country pass the EAS signal - that the simplest
solution would be a modification to the phone itself.

It seems that (passively, in the background) it would be a small hurdle to have
the phone, once turned on for the first time, actively seek until it finds ANY
station.  It would also seem a small task to have it perform that again if it
lost signal, which would fix the "I moved to a new city" problem.  It also seems
to me that since it decodes data into clear text already, that it should be able
to easily decode the EAS message, and upon decoding, the message itself could
tell the phone which frequency to tune to, automatically tune it, and put the
audio to the speaker - turning the phone into a walkman during times of EAS
distress.

Under these conditions - the use of the EAS in the phone would not require the
cell phone company's cooperation, and the only thing that would turn it off,
would be an option of the end user to physically turn off the radio receiver.

Am I missing something, or do we as a global society not have the technology to
create a phone that can automagically do that?

Sure it would be disruptive to phone calls, etc for the 30 seconds or so that
the message went across - but in a life or death situation - this could make all
the difference in the world.  As long as the authorities didn't overuse it - it
could work.

I'll go back to sleep now.