It seems almost stupid that it’s nearly 2013 and we’re still unable to communicate with our emergency services in any way other than picking up the phone and calling them. We can certainly imagine situations where you’d want to be able to send a quick text message to local police. The US is a bit behind here—British mobile phone users have had access to EmergencySMS since 2009.

For years, we’ve been covering the slow ascent of text-to-911. But now, the Federal Communications Commission says that the nation’s Big Four mobile carriers have agreed to “accelerate” text-to-911 capabilities for debut in 2013, with a nationwide deployment by May 15, 2014.

“Building on text-to-911 deployments and trials that are already underway, this agreement will accelerate progress and ensure that over 90 percent of the nation’s wireless consumers, including millions of consumers with hearing or speech disabilities, will be able to access emergency services by sending a text message to 911, where local 911 call centers (known as a Public Safety Answering Points, or PSAPs) are also prepared to receive the texts,” the FCC said in a statement Thursday.

The agency added that Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T would add a “bounce back” feature across their networks by June 30, 2013, which would text back an auto-response if the carriers have not yet implemented a full text-to-911 capability.