The U.S. Federal Communications Commission late Wednesday approved a plan whereby cell phone subscribers in crisis situations such as flash floods or suspected terrorist attacks will receive emergency alert text messages.

Wireless carriers participating in the Commercial Mobile Alert System will transmit text-based alerts to subscribers in harm's way and as the technology improves carriers will also transmit audio and video messages.

In times of crisis such as the 9/11 disaster and the Virginia Tech massacre, the American public has tended to use cell phones as the preferred means of communicating with each other and the authorities. And taking a cue from the public, the FCC is attempting to incorporate wireless communications into public safety with limited success.

As part of the strategy, the FCC reserved a block of spectrum in the recently concluded 700 MHz auction to build a nationwide wireless network that would double as both a commercial network and a public safety network.

But there have been major stumbling blocks in the way of both the nationwide public safety network and the emergency alert text message system.

The spectrum set aside for a public safety/commercial network did not meet its minimum bid in the auction so it is currently in limbo. And the mobile emergency alert system does not currently have a designated federal agency to run the system.

"The FCC does not have the authority to make that decision but we stand ready to coordinate with other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Congress when necessary to help facilitate that decision," said Robert Kenney, an FCC spokesman.

The FCC has made no secret of the fact that it thinks DHS, and more specifically the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which comes under DHS, should take responsibility for the mobile alert system.

But FEMA has indicated that it does not have the legal or the budgetary authority to run the system although it runs the current emergency alert system which transmits emergency alerts via TV and radio.

According to the FCC all of the major carriers including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile USA, have expressed support for the mobile emergency alert system.

"We believe this is a very important step for public safety," said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless. "The fact that people carry their cell phones almost everywhere gives us the responsibility to offer a service option that improves all of our lives."