Aside from being a possible reference for court cases, it appears that the U.S. government's found another handy use for the country's growing amount of SMS.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently unveiled its proposal to establish a nationwide alert system that will use text messaging system for cellphones and other mobile devices.

According to the FCC, this messaging system would be carried by volunteer cell phone companies, who would in turn relay one of several text messages to their subscribers during an emergency.

The FCC's emergency messaging system is further expected to handle three particular events: Disasters that directly affect American Citizens (ex. terrorist attacks), imminent or ongoing threats such as hurricanes or earthquakes, and child abductions.

At the moment, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and AT&T have announced their interest in joining the FCC's messaging system. These providers will in turn be receiving the messages they will deliver from a yet-to-be-named agency.

All volunteer message carriers are expected to be ready for the alert system's requirements within 10 months.