FEMA's Fugate Supports FM Use in Smartphones
| RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, October 21, 2014 |
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FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate is touting the benefits of having cellphone carriers enable FM radio on smartphones reports The Hill. The NAB on Monday highlighted an interview in which he expressed the importance having FM-enable phones a natural disaster. Fugate noted that broadcast radio is at times the only way to receive emergency information when other services are overloaded. He pointed to the 2011 earthquake near Washington, DC and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
"A lot of our tendency to use streaming devices to be dependent upon broadband capabilities are vulnerable in a disaster... A phone without service is no more useful than a "brick," said Fugate. "So when you get things where you can start combining functions, like putting FM chips into cellphones and you start getting radio... it moves us beyond just streaming."
"His comments send a strong message to wireless providers regarding the indispensable value of radio as a lifeline when disaster strikes," said NAB CEO Gordon Smith. "We strongly urge all wireless carriers to voluntarily activate their customers' FM chips that are already installed in mobile devices to provide Americans with access to a lifesaving service."
