A London company is offering a to deliver warnings of terrorist attacks on the city to customers via text messages sent to their mobile phones, the Associated Press reported.
City Alert Texting System (CATS) says if a terrorist attack occurs customers will receive a warning message followed by instructions on how to vacate the area and directions to the closest hospital.
CATS is offering the service to resident of the London capital for a fee of $4.30 per year. Customers register the postcodes of their home and workplace with CATS.
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Company founder David Pieterse told AP the service could help reduce incidents of panic in the event of an attack.
"This makes for a very controlled evacuation system. We can deliver the message quickly and widely. And because of the postcode system we can be very specific with the instructions," he said.
Although Londoners are no strangers to similar systems, they can already subscribe to receive warnings of delays on the Underground, some think terror warnings are a little morbid.
"I think it'd be a bit depressing," said Anne Pollard, a civil servant on her lunch break in the city's financial district. "If you're in the area of an attack, you'd know anyway, wouldn't you?"
Because the system CATS uses divides the city into postcodes, millions of messages can be sent in minutes before cellular networks become jammed, Pieterse told AP.
Pieterse says the system will only be activated in life threatening situations.
