WASHINGTON – The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the FCC will conduct a test on cellphones, Wednesday.
The test will allow federal officials to send text messages to all cellular phones. It will be the first test of the Wireless Emergency Alert system, and phones will receive a message that will have a header that reads “Presidential Alert” and text that says: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
The Wireless Alert system will be used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations through alerts on cell phones. The national test will use the same special tone and vibration as with all WEA messages. Cellular users cannot opt out of the WEA test.
Weekdays 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.
