Field testing is scheduled for next month on a product that emergency authorities would be able to use to broadcast localized messages on the FM dial.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology has received an application for special temporary authority for an experimental license to test an emergency alert system that would transmit in the FM band, 88.1 to 107.9 MHz.
The applicant, Safety Cast, stated its technology uses “an extremely low power, noncommercial, mobile transmitter that will broadcast ‘All Hazard’ alerts, Amber Alerts, and/or emergency ‘alert’ messages from authorized public entity vehicles (Police, Fire/Rescue, etc.).”
Safety Cast said its signals are designed to be received within a distance of less than 1,050 feet from the transmitter and that it would transmit throughout the FM radio band.
According to the manufacturer, field testing is scheduled for August, with the product expected to be in production by early fall. The company signed its first distribution contract with a Miami-based police supplier a few months ago.
The firm makes radio transmitters targeted for use in emergency vehicles, railroad locomotives and school buses. The devices transmit an alert tone and a verbal message warning motorists that an emergency vehicle is nearby.
The firm projects $70 million in annual revenues in five years, according to a story in The Business Journal publication.
Move Aside for the Ambulance: FCC Eyes Safety Cast Application
Move Aside for the Ambulance: FCC Eyes Safety Cast Application