WASHINGTON—In a 3-0 vote by Commissioners, the Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules for the Emergency Alerting System (EAS) that aim to preserve the public’s trust in EAS by targeted cybersecurity upgrades to prevent cybercriminals and foreign governments from hijacking the system.

“Requiring stronger password practices, timely software updates and improved security controls will help reduce opportunities for bad actors to exploit weaknesses in alerting equipment,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said.

In addition, the Commission will move forward with a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that seeks comment on additional ways to modernize EAS and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) ranging from bolstering reliability to improving geographic accuracy, the agency reported during its June Open Meeting on June 25.

A notable feature of those proposals in the June 25 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is a proposal to allow the implementation of EAS capabilities via software instead of hardware and retiring the 90-character maximum versions of WEA messages.

During the meeting the Commission adopted three specific measures to help protect against hijacking by cybercriminals and our nation’s adversaries. Those require EAS Participants to use strong passwords, promptly test and install security patches issued by equipment manufacturers, and use a network firewall or comparable practice to better limit access to their equipment.

In addition, the regulator issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing multiple targeted improvements that can make EAS and WEA more accurate, resilient, flexible, and useful. These proposals would improve EAS’s integrity by requiring the authentication of all alerts before they are transmitted and promote the reliability of emergency alerts by establishing a universal alert identification number to help block duplicate alerts.

The Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also explores improving geographic accuracy by eliminating outdated WEA geotargeting exceptions that often cause alerts to be received in the wrong locations and increasing alert effectiveness by requiring EAS and WEA to display symbols that match the type of emergency.

Finally, the FCC is proposing to remove outdated requirements by allowing the implementation of EAS capabilities via software instead of hardware and retiring the 90-character maximum versions of WEA messages.

In a statement, NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt praised "Chairman Carr’s leadership in strengthening and modernizing the Emergency Alert System. We are pleased with the Commission’s newly adopted Report and Order, which establishes reasonable safeguards to enhance the cybersecurity of EAS. Local radio and television stations play a vital role in delivering trusted emergency information to communities when it matters most. Ensuring that EAS remains secure, reliable and effective is essential to that mission."

LeGeyt also said that the NAB supports "the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and appreciate the Commission’s approval of NAB’s petition to consider software-based EAS alert processing as an alternative to dedicated physical hardware. By allowing broadcasters to deploy security updates more quickly, reduce equipment downtime and strengthen system redundancy, this proposal can help ensure stations are better positioned to deliver critical emergency information when communities need it most."

More information is available here.

A more detailed description of the changes can be found at our sister publication Radio World.

The Consumer Technology Association told the Federal Communications Commission last week that it believes the current Emergency Alert System is highly effective and, if expanded, could create more problems than it solves.

The association’s comments were in response to an NPRM issued by the commission last month in which it said it would explore whether fundamental changes to the Emergency Alert System—which provides emergency alerts to the public via radio, television, satellite and cable systems, and Wireless Emergency Alerts—which provide emergency alerts to supported mobile devices—would make them more effective, efficient, and better able to serve the public’s needs

The CTA told the commission that while it appreciated its efforts towards reassessing the state of emergency alerting in the U.S., adding more regulations to current rules would be expensive and time-consuming.

“Expanding EAS and WEA beyond the media and devices they reach now would require overcoming resource-intensive and complicated technical hurdles, while duplicating the alerting that the public already receives,” the CTA said in its filing. “Because the public safety community has expressed concern with alert fatigue, avoiding unintended consequences also requires the careful evaluation of any new requirements and guidelines.”

With nearly all Americans (98% as of 2024) owning a cellphone, CTA said the current system works well.

“The integration of wireless phones into consumers’ lives means that the shift in behavior from traditional television and radio to online media and connected devices does not frustrate the alerting ‘systems’ objectives of widespread public notification about emergencies,” the association told the FCC.

The CTA added that “most Americans receive emergency and public safety information through WEA to mobile devices, not terrestrial radio or broadcast television.”

When a combined WEA-EAS test was conducted in October 2023, the association conducted a survey to determine how Americans received the emergency alerts, and found that approximately 245 million U.S. adults (95%) received or heard the emergency alert via their phone. Specifically, 92% of U.S. adults (approximately 237 million) indicated they received the alert through their smartphone.

“The results of this survey illustrate the ubiquity of cellphones and smartphones and the effectiveness of the WEA system in reaching device users,” the CTA said.

Even when watching TV or listening to the radio, consumers usually have their mobile devices close by, CTA added.

“Consistent with CTA’s 2023 nationwide test survey findings, other data also indicate that most people watch television while engaging with a second screen such as a phone or tablet,” CTA said. “Thus, even if a person streams television content or other forms of entertainment not capable of receiving EAS, WEA could still successfully notify the individual of an emergency using a nearby cellphone or cellular-connected/paired wearable.”

Although the CTA all but dismissed broadcast alerts as obsolete, it did admit that because the current EAS model is built on broadcast-based architecture, adding new rules would cause technical barriers because most OTT services stream content on-demand and not live.

“Over-the-top (OTT) streaming and other internet services are different in fundamental ways from broadcast technologies, creating challenges to the technical feasibility of using such services to transmit EAS alerts," CTA said. "Many OTT services cannot broadcast real-time content, limiting their ability to transmit real-time alerts, or only allowing them to do so on a limited basis.

“These OTT services are more accurately described as on-demand file services with content on the edge of networks or in content delivery networks,” the CTA added. “Such services are not designed to broadcast real-time or near-real-time content like EAS alerts,“ the consumer electronics trade group continued. “Effectively transmitting internet alerts would also require gathering, analyzing, targeting and parsing location information beyond the current EAS capabilities. Many streaming services and internet-connected devices do not have or are not designed to transmit content based on location in the way that EAS alerts require. EAS participants and relay stations directly transmit to a specific geographic area based on the location of the participants and relevant stations, such as the relevant state or locality. Many internet-connected devices, in contrast, do not readily identify their location beyond country or world region.”

The fragmented nature of viewing SVOD services on multiple devices is another technical hurdle, CTA said.

“Multiple users on the same account in more than one location can often use a streaming service simultaneously, complicating the targeting of local and state alerts,” the association said. “Using a service in multiple, disparate locations presents a challenge to the precise location targeting of the vast majority of alerts, such as during hurricanes and other weather events.”

Unlike broadcast, which uses standards such as ATSC 1.0 or 3.0 that ensure compatibility, streaming devices do not, CTA said, adding another technical burden.

“Ensuring interoperability among the different streaming technologies and EAS is another obstacle to technical feasibility,” CTA said. “Streaming companies do not have a 'core technology' to use to transmit EAS alerts, unlike traditional ATSC 1.0 broadcasting or the Advanced Emergency Alert in ATSC 3.0. The large variety of internet-capable end-user devices provides an additional challenge for ensuring compatibility with a uniform format for EAS transmissions.”

The association suggested that the FCC may have bitten off more than it could chew in the current notice of proposed rulemaking.

“Given the high-level nature of the inquiries in the NPRM, CTA anticipates that a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking would be appropriate to allow industry and other stakeholders to evaluate and comment on any specific new requirements and identify implementation challenges,” the association said. “If the Commission develops new proposals, CTA urges the Commission to refrain from proposing any user interface or equipment mandates, which risk both exceeding the FCC’s legal authority and stifling innovation by locking in regulator-dictated design choices. In addition, any new rules should provide a sufficient implementation period, as well as provide for waivers, including class waivers, where appropriate.”

WASHINGTON—In response to an effort by the Federal Communications Commission to “modernize” existing systems for alerting people during emergencies, the NAB has laid out a number of proposals for improving the systems while preserving the important role that radio and TV broadcasters play in the current system.

“NAB supports the FCC’s further consideration of ways to enhance EAS, while preserving and promoting the legacy EAS system as a critically important redundant failsafe backup,” the filing said. “Broadcasters take pride in their unique role in EAS, and look forward to partnering with the FCC, FEMA, and other stakeholders on future enhancements that would increase public safety."

As part of its proposals for improving the system the NAB’s filing proposed the following measures and laid out its position on these issues:

• The FCC should consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of alert originators. As part of that the NAB said it supports more AO funding, training, and collaboration.
• Government agencies should maintain exclusive authority to issue eas alerts.
• The FCC should preserve the existing presentation of EAS alerts while considering voluntary options for enhanced video-rich alerts.
• EAS participation should remain mandatory only for presidential alerts.
• Redundancy is the most effective way to ensure resilience.
• In addition, the NAB said it supports improving the geotargeting of EAS alerts and would support efforts to enhance the security of EAS.
• The NAB also supports consideration of approaches to expanding EAS to additional media platforms.

The NAB's defense of the role played by broadcasters is important because the FCC’s original Notice of Proposed for updating alerting systems said that the agency would examine a wide variety of issues and attempt to completely reexamine existing approaches.

Those issues included, the FCC said in the NPR, an examination of whether broadcasting should continue to play a central role in any new system given the ongoing shift from traditional radio and TV to streaming and mobile devices.

“EAS, for instance, was originally designed to continue operating when traditional communication methods are not functioning and alerts can only be delivered via independently powered broadcast facilities,” the NPR noted. “Does this approach to EAS resiliency remain necessary today? Are there other alternative communications pathways that EAS and WEA can leverage to ensure redundancy? Should EAS and WEA both be independently resilient (i.e., having multiple redundant pathways within EAS, as well as within WEA) or is it sufficient for EAS to provide a redundant source of alerts to WEA and vice versa? Could existing public alert and warning infrastructure be made more resilient by increasing the interoperability of EAS and WEA (e.g., by enabling mobile devices capable of receiving a WEA to receive EAS alerts when cellular infrastructure is damaged)?”

A separate filing by the Consumer Electronics Association more directly raised the issue of the importance of broadcasters in alerting systems.

It noted that “the nation’s alerting system is successfully and reliably reaching Americans as they incorporate more and more wireless devices into their everyday lives. The integration of wireless phones into consumers’ lives means that the shift in behavior from traditional television and radio to online media and connected devices does not frustrate the alerting “systems’ objectives of widespread public notification about emergencies.”

“CTA’s data demonstrates that most Americans receive emergency and public safety information through WEA to mobile devices, not terrestrial radio or broadcast television,” the CTA also noted. “In 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and FCC conducted a nationwide EAS and WEA test with the goal of ensuring that the system continues to be a successful means of communicating emergency information to the public…In the days immediately following this test, CTA Market Research conducted a survey to understand the method for how U.S. adults received/heard the emergency alert on October 4, 2023. The survey indicates that approximately 245 million U.S. adults (95%) received/heard the October 4 emergency alert via their phone. Specifically, 92% of U.S. adults (approximately 237 million) indicated they received the alert through their smartphone. The results of this survey illustrate the ubiquity of cellphones and smartphones and the effectiveness of the WEA system in reaching device users.”

The original NPR also makes no mention of public media, which has traditionally played an important role in alerting or ATSC 3.0, which has a number of features for advance alerts. In a separate filing ATSC laid out its position on how NextGen TV could help in the design of a new system.

In its filing, the NAB said “Broadcasters applauded the FCC for launching this proceeding. Of the many ways that television and radio broadcasters serve the public interest, none is more important than the critical role we play in protecting the safety of our viewers and listeners. The architecture of the broadcasting system is particularly resilient and enables local stations to reliably distribute emergency warnings and information to virtually all Americans. Recent events such as Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the Texas Hill Country floods, and the Los Angeles wildfires all underscore the importance of broadcasters during a disaster, as well as Congress’s decision to formally designate broadcasters as `first informers’ in 2018. Broadcasters lead the way in ensuring the integrity of EAS through routine testing and investing in new and upgraded EAS equipment, including updates mandated by regulation. And while broadcasters are proud to champion EAS, NAB respectfully reminds the Commission as it considers the ideas raised in the Notice that participation in EAS is essentially an unfunded government mandate.”

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has updated its rules to provide alert originators with the flexibility to send silent Wireless Emergency Alerts, which the agency said would better protect the public in some situations and reduce “alert fatigue.”

The Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 25-14) was adopted by a unanimous vote by the FCC chair and commissioners at the agency’s Feb. open meeting on Feb. 27.

The vote ensures “that alert originators have more choices when they decide to send out alerts,” FCC chair Brendan Carr said. “Specifically, today’s decision lets alert originators and emergency managers on the ground decide whether to send an alert with or without a loud signal, depending on their judgment and expertise. In addition, today’s item gives consumers more choice and flexibility over the way they receive the alerts, which will reduce consumer opt-out and increase public safety by ensuring that consumers continue to receive them.

Wireless Emergency Alerts are used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations through alerts on compatible cell phones and other mobile devices, the FCC said.

The FCC noted that to grab consumers’ attention, these alerts are accompanied by a distinctive sound and vibration. The notifications may be unexpected and jarring at times, causing some consumers to opt out from receiving future alerts. In addition, in some situations, such as during an active shooting, the loud “attention signal” may put a consumer in greater danger.

The FCC said that to address these issues, the FCC will require wireless providers that participate in Wireless Emergency Alerts to enable alert originators to send alerts that do not trigger the audio attention signal, vibration cadence, or both. At the same time, to ensure accessibility, consumers will have the option to override suppression of the vibration cadence so that they can continue to be notified of alerts this way.

The FCC also reported that the action promotes informed consumer choice by requiring devices marketed as “WEA-capable” to support all the required Wireless Emergency Alerts capabilities, including device-based geotargeting, 360-character alerts, embedded references, and silent alerts—not just a subset of these capabilities that varies by device or provider.

In addition, in an accompanying Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission will seek comment on additional ways to reduce the number of consumers opting out of Wireless Emergency Alerts, including by providing the public with greater flexibility in how the alerts are presented on their phones.

The chief financial officer of the state of Florida wants the FCC to “immediately halt any further utilization” of Wireless Emergency Alerts on a national level.

Jimmy Patronis, who also serves as the state’s fire marshal, addressed his letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. He took issue with use of the WEA platform to send the nationwide emergency text message to cellphones and wireless devices in early October:

“What was the point of that? Was it really necessary? The federal government scared about 70% of Americans with that alert, and in my opinion, this was government overreach at its finest,” Patronis wrote in the letter. (Read it here.) 

The FCC and FEMA conducted the national tests of WEA and EAS public warning systems on Oct. 4.

Patronis in his letter admonished the FCC for directly reaching out to citizens on their electronic devices. “I don’t like systems where the federal government can access Americans directly to their smartphones. Frankly, I don’t like the idea of any administration (regardless of party) having the ability to DM Americans without their permission,” Patronis wrote.

Patronis, a Republican, has served in Florida’s cabinet since 2017. According to his bio, Patronis is a fourth-generation Floridian who previously worked in his family’s restaurant business. He is a former member of the state legislature.

His letter continued: “Trust in our nation’s ruling class is at an all-time low and for good reason. In a time when the first and second branches of government should be reining in Big Tech and protecting the privacy of American citizens, Big Tech and Big Government seem to be indistinguishable. … In my opinion, there is absolutely zero reason that the federal government needs to notify millions of Americans at the exact same moment. It’s unreasonable that people on the West Coast need to be alerted about something going on in the East Coast,” he said.

Patronis says emergency alerting should be left to each state to handle. “State emergency management directors are more than capable of protecting and alerting their own citizens during emergencies without the federal government needlessly getting in the way.”

He concludes his letter: “I urge you as the chairwoman of the FCC and a fellow taxpayer to immediately halt any further utilization of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response.”

Rosenworcel has sought to expand the capabilities of WEA by making them more accessible to people who don’t speak English or Spanish. In October the FCC adopted rules expanding the language capabilities of WEA by adding more bilingual alerts.

Replying on Friday to a Radio World request for comment, an FCC spokesperson wrote by email: “Life-saving emergency alert systems are the law, as is the requirement that FEMA conduct periodic nationwide tests, and they are responsible for setting the date and time of these tests. The FCC strongly supports emergency alerting, which save lives in communities across the country.”

The commission on its website describes Wireless Emergency Alerts as “an essential part of America’s emergency preparedness. Since its launch in 2012, the WEA system has been used more than 84,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children and other critical situations—all through alerts on compatible cell phones and other mobile devices.” It notes that wireless companies volunteer to participate and that it is the result of a public/private partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FCC and the wireless industry.

The letter produced some eyerolling on an EAS listserv maintained by the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

“I guess he is just unaware that we’ve had national alerting for at least 70 years, beginning with CONELRAD,” one engineer wrote. Another called his letter “political pandering … no, it’s scaremongering and nothing more.”

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Radio World. 

WASHINGTON—FEMA has announced details surrounding its planned national emergency alert test Wednesday, Oct. 4. Conducted in conjunction with the FCC, the national test will consist of two portions, testing Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to mobile devices and Emergency Alert System (EAS) alerts to TV and radio. Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET.

This will be the third nationwide test for WEA alerts to cellphones, but the second test to all WEA-compatible cellular devices. The test message will display in either English or in Spanish, depending on the language settings of the wireless handset. This will be the seventh nationwide EAS test.

FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with EAS participants, wireless providers, emergency managers and other stakeholders in preparation for this national test to minimize confusion and maximize the public safety value of the test.

The purpose of the test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level. In case the Oct. 4 test is postponed, due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, the back-up testing date is Oct. 11.

The WEA portion of the test will be initiated using FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), a centralized internet-based system administered by FEMA that enables authorities to send authenticated emergency messages to the public through multiple communications networks. The WEA test will be administered via a code sent to cell phones.

This year the EAS message will be disseminated as a Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) message via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System-Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN).

All wireless phones should receive the message only once. The following can be expected from the nationwide WEA test:

• Beginning at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET, cell towers will broadcast the test for approximately 30 minutes. During this time, WEA-compatible wireless phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and in a geographic area where the wireless provider participates in WEA, should be capable of receiving the test message.
• For consumers, the message that appears on their phones will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”
• Phones with the main menu set to Spanish will display: “ESTA ES UNA PRUEBA del Sistema Nacional de Alerta de Emergencia. No se necesita acción.”
• Similar to when your phone receives an Amber Alert, the WEA alert tone is generally only played when the alert is initially received by the phone and on some devices stops as soon as the user clicks a button.
• If a phone is off before the test alert is sent and not turned back on until after the WEA Test expires (approximately 30 minutes), the phone should not get the test message.

•  The EAS portion of the test is scheduled to last approximately one minute and will be conducted with the participation of radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers.
• The test message will be similar to the regular monthly EAS test messages with which the public is familiar. It will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public." 

WEA alerts are created and sent by authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial government agencies through IPAWS to participating wireless providers, which deliver the alerts to compatible handsets in geo-targeted areas. To help ensure that these alerts are accessible to the entire public, including people with disabilities, the alerts are accompanied by a unique tone and vibration.

FEMA and the FCC warned TV and radio broadcasters not to include the tones or Attention Signals in broadcast TV or radio coverage about the Nationwide Emergency Alert Test being conducted on Oct. 4. Doing so could result in a violation of federal regulations, which prohibit the use of Emergency Alert System codes (which are audible tones) or the EAS and WEA Attention Signals, or simulations of them, except in actual emergencies, authorized tests of the EAS, or authorized Public Service Announcements (PSAs).

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As expected FEMA and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have announced that they will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) this fall on October 4. 

The agencies reported that the national test will consist of two portions, testing WEA and EAS capabilities. Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4.

The agencies said that if the Oct. 4 test is postponed due to widespread severe weather or other significant events, the back-up testing date is Oct. 11.

The WEA portion of the test will be directed to all consumer cell phones. This will be the third nationwide test of the WEA system, but the second test to all cellular devices. The test message will display in either English or in Spanish, depending on the language settings of the wireless handset.

The EAS portion of the test will be sent to radios and televisions. This will be the seventh nationwide EAS test, the FCC said. 

This year the EAS message will be disseminated as a Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) message via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System-Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN).

The agencies said that the EAS portion of the test is scheduled to last approximately one minute and will be conducted with the participation of radio and television broadcasters, cable systems, satellite radio and television providers and wireline video providers.

The test message will be similar to the regular monthly EAS test messages and will state: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”

The FCC also reminded EAS Participants that they are encouraged to take steps, in coordination with their State Emergency Communications Committees, to prepare for the test. Those steps include: 

• Ensuring that a copy of the EAS Operating Handbook is located at normal duty positions, or EAS equipment locations, and is otherwise immediately available to operators; 
• Reviewing the EAS Operating Handbook for the actions to be taken by operators upon receipt of the test alert, and tailoring any actions as necessary that are specific to the EAS Participants’ facilities;
• Reviewing their State EAS Plan for monitoring assignments and ensuring that EAS equipment is accurately configured to monitor those sources; 
• Upgrading EAS equipment software and firmware to the most recent version;  and
• Manually synchronizing EAS equipment clocks to the official time provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology  if an EAS Participant’s equipment does not automatically synchronize to an Internet time source.

The FCC also noted that all EAS Participants are required to participate in the nationwide EAS test and make required filings in the Commission’s EAS Test Reporting System (ETRS).  EAS Participants were required to make their 2023 ETRS Form One filings on or before February 28, 2023.  In addition:  

• Any EAS Participant that must update ETRS Form One to ensure its accuracy (including changes resulting from transfers of control, updates to EAS equipment or software, or as required by any revision of its State EAS Plan filed pursuant to 47 CFR § 11.21) must submit an updated ETRS Form One on or before September 15, 2023. 
• All EAS Participants must file ETRS Form Two to provide “day of test” data on or before October 5, 2023.  
• All EAS Participants must file ETRS Form Three to provide detailed post-test data on or before November 20, 2023.   

ETRS Forms Two and Three will become available in ETRS on October 4, 2023, at the time of initiation of the 2023 nationwide test.

In addition, the FCC stressed that all EAS Participants – including Low Power FM stations (LPFM), Class D non-commercial educational FM stations, and EAS Participants that are silent pursuant to a grant of Special Temporary Authority – are required to register and file in ETRS, with the following exceptions:

• Analog and digital low power television (LPTV) stations that operate as television broadcast translator stations are not required to register and file in ETRS. 
• FM broadcast booster stations and FM translator stations which entirely rebroadcast the programming of other local FM broadcast stations are not required to register and file in ETRS. 
• International broadcast stations are not required to register and file in ETRS. 
• Analog and digital broadcast stations that operate as satellites or repeaters of a hub station (or common studio or control point if there is no hub station) and rebroadcast 100 percent of the programming of the hub station (or common studio or control point) are not required to register and file in ETRS.  However, the hub station (or common studio or control point) is required to register and file in ETRS. 

Filers can access ETRS by visiting the ETRS page of the Commission’s website at https://www.fcc.gov/general/eas-test-reporting-system.  

Filers may contact Bureau staff for assistance with ETRS filings via ETRS@fcc.gov.  

For further information regarding the nationwide EAS or WEA tests, contact Austin Randazzo, Associate Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, at (202) 418-1462 or Austin.Randazzo@fcc.gov. 

WASHINGTON—In the runup to the August 11, 2021 EAS and WEA alert test, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC has reminded participants that they are required to issue alerts that are accessible to those with hearing and visual impairments. 

The nationwide test of the EAS and WEA systems is scheduled for August 11, 2021, at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, with a backup date of August 25, 2021. 

The reminder noted that analog and digital television broadcast stations, analog and digital cable systems, wireless cable systems, wireline video systems, and direct broadcast satellite (DBS) were required to provide accessible Emergency Alert System (EAS) alerts.

Likewise, participating commercial mobile service providers had to provide accessible alerts for the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) test.

The FCC noted that the EAS test message will be transmitted as follows:

“THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency an official message would have followed the tone alert you heard at the start of this message. No action is required.”

The FCC also noted that “EAS Participants should take necessary steps, in compliance with section 11.51 of the Commission’s rules, to ensure that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and individuals who are blind or visually impaired have full access to EAS messages. Section 11.51 requires analog and digital television broadcast stations, analog and digital cable systems, wireless cable systems, wireline video systems, and DBS providers to broadcast national-level alerts in a manner that allows individuals with and without disabilities to access the full content.”

As part of that the FCC noted that the EAS text must be displayed “at the top of the television screen or where it will not interfere with other visual messages (e.g., closed captioning), and in a manner (i.e., font size, color, contrast, location, and speed) that is readily readable and understandable, without overlapping lines or extending beyond the viewable display (except for video crawls that intentionally scroll on and off of the screen), and in full at least once during any EAS message.”

In addition, the audio portion of an EAS message must be played in full at least once to ensure it is accessible to viewers who are blind or have low vision.

More details on the requirements for accessibility can be found here. 

WASHINGTON—The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that IPAWS-OPEN release 3.10 went live today, Dec. 18, offering several new enhancements, including support for 360-character alerts.

WEA, or Wireless Emergency Alerts, is used to send warnings about dangerous weather, missing children and other emergency situations to the public via their wireless phones and mobile devices.

The latest version of WEA also supports Spanish-language alerts, the ability to reach 100% of a targeted area without an overshoot of more than 1/10 of a mile as well as enhancements to the WEA test and public safety categories.

However, leveraging the enhancements requires more than an update to IPAWS, FEMA said. Wireless provides will need to update their networks nationwide, their customers’ phones and the software authorities rely upon to send alerts.

While the IPAWS Program Management Office (PMO) has tested and confirmed wireless providers can receive enhanced WEA messages from IPAWS, it will take time for wireless customers around the country to receive enhanced WEA on their phones, FEMA said.

IPAWS PMO also has confirmed that most of the software used by alerting authorities around the country has been upgraded and tested by FEMA; however, it is possible that not all of the alerting authorities are ready to write alerts taking advantage of the new WEA enhancements, FEMA said.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued his own statement about the WEA update:

“One of my key public safety priorities has been to ensure that America's emergency alerting system meets the needs of public safety officials and the communities they serve. With these improvements, Wireless Emergency Alerts are now an even more powerful tool for emergency managers to warn and protect the public. These improvements respond to input we've received from the public safety community and will help save lives.”

This is expansion of mobile services is part of the architecture for delivery information during emergencies that broadcasters also take part in.

More information is available by emailing FEMA IPAWS PMO.

WASHINGTON—Settlements have been reached between the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and a TV broadcaster, cable networks and a radio broadcaster for misusing the Emergency Alert Systems and Wireless Emergency Alert tones. Combined fines of $600,000 in civil penalties were issued as a result of misuse by ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” Discovery’s “Lone Star Law” and Meruelo Radio Holdings’ KDAY and KDEY-FM morning radio shows.

ABC agreed to pay a $395,000 civil penalty for an Oct. 2018 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” where it used a simulated WEA tone three times during a sketch. AMC paid $104,000 for an episode of “The Walking Dead” that aired in February 2019 and used the EAS tone twice. Discovery paid $68,000 for an episode of “Lone Star Law” that included an actual WEA tone that was captured while filming during Hurricane Harvey. Meruelo Radio Holdings paid $67,000 for a promotion of its two morning shows that included a simulation of EAS tones. All outlets admitted their errors and agreed to a compliance plan.

In addition to these finds, the Enforcement Bureau has released an Enforcement advisory to reiterate the existing law that speaks to the misuse of EAS tones and how it can be a public safety concern.

“We remain concerned about the misuse of the EAS codes and EAS and WEA Attention Signals, or simultaneous thereof, to capture audience attention during advertisements; dramatic, entertainment and educational programs; and at any other time that there is no genuine alert, authorized test or authorized PSA about the EAS or WEA that is accompanied by an appropriate disclaimer,” the advisory reads.

WASHINGTON—In an effort to inform and promote state and local emergency management authorities on how they can implement multilingual alerts for the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is hosting a public workshop on June 28 at the FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The agenda for the workshop has officially been announced, including the panelists that will make up the sessions.

The day will begin with a welcome from Zenji Nakazawa, public safety and consumer protection advisor to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, before heading into its first panel. The initial panel, which will begin at 9:15 a.m., is titled “Regulatory Framework for Multilingual Alert Distributions Over the EAS and WEA Systems.” David Munson, attorney advisor with PSHSB, will moderate a panel made up of Orlando Bermudez from the Multimedia Assistance in Spanish Program, Austin/San Antonio Weather Office, NOAA; Justin Cain, deputy chief, Operations and Emergency Management division at PSHSB; Gregory Cooke, the chief for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at CGB; Matthew Grest, vice president, regulatory affairs, CTIA; Al Kenyon, IPAWS Customer Support Branch chief, IPAWS Program Office, Continuity Communications Division DHS—FEMA; NCTA Vice President of Engineering Andy Scott; and Larry Walke, associate general counsel for the NAB.

At 10:15 a.m., panel number two, “Examples of How Various State and Local Journalists Provide Multilingual Alerting,” is scheduled. Cooke and Munson will co-moderate this panel, which is set to feature John Dooley, MN—Department of Public Safety; Fred Engel, chief technology officer at UNC-TV; Andy Huckaba, councilmember for Lenexa, Kan.; Jesus Salas, executive vice president of programming for Spanish Broadcasting System Inc. in Miami; Francisco Sanchez, deputy emergency management coordinator for Harris County, Texas; Aaron Wilborn, the marketing manager for Dick Broadcasting Company in Savannah, Blufton, Hilton Head and Beaufort, Ga.; and Adam Woodlief, chief technology officer for Georgia Public Broadcasting.

The final session of the day, slated to start at 1 p.m., is “Current Capabilities in EAS and WEA Equipment, and Complementary Technologies for Sending Multilingual Alerts.” Munson and Cooke again will moderate. Panelists for the final session include Dr. Edward Czarnecki, senior director—Strategy and Government Affairs for Digital Alert Systems Inc.; Brian J. Toolan, the director of government strategy with Everbridge; Xperi Corporation’s Vice President of Radio Technology Solutions Ashruf El-Dinary; Pat Feldhausen, offering manager with the Weather Company; and Harold Prince, president of Sage Alerting Systems.

The workshop, which runs from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m., is open to the public, but admittance is limited to available seating. The workshop will take place in the Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305). It will also be broadcast live, with captioning in both English and Spanish, through fcc.gov/live.

WASHINGTON—Two messages seem to have been transmitted loud and clear after the most recent EAS/WEA national alert test. One, that participation in national EAS tests is a priority. And two, that participants are committed to sending the alert in both the English and Spanish languages.

It was back in October that the Federal Emergency Management Agency conducted another nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System and the first ever nationwide Wireless Emergency Alert, which was delivered to mobile devices.

At 2:18 p.m. Eastern on Oct. 3, FEMA sent a WEA test message to WEA-capable wireless devices throughout the United States and territories; immediately following, FEMA conducted a live test of the EAS to EAS participants. That message was transmitted in English and Spanish and included both a text message and audio.

All participating mobile service providers were required to participate in the WEA portion of the test, while all EAS participants — including thousands of radio stations, TV stations and cable providers —were required to participate in the EAS piece.

According to results recently released by the FCC, 95.5% of EAS participants successfully received the National Periodic Test code used for the test, while 91.8% successfully retransmitted the test. Those numbers are consistent with the participation levels observed in the 2017 nationwide EAS test.

Of the 2,621 television broadcasters who were 2018 test participants, 89.3% of those received the test (thumbs up to those 2,340 stations). Of those, 84% went on to successfully retransmit the alert. Both of those numbers are down an average of 1 percentage point from the receive/transmit levels in 2017.

Kudos to cable system operators who had the highest percentage of reception and transmission in the 2018 test. Of the 2,792 who were supposed to receive and transmit the test, 97.8% of those participated in the test. More than 91% of those cable MSOs then went on to retransmit the alert.

There were slight improvements in other areas. Nearly 91% of test participants who filed their Form Three (which gives detailed data to the FCC on what happened after the test) reported no complications in receiving the test, up from 89% in 2017. A total of 89% reported no complications in retransmitting the test, a figure up slightly from 88% in 2017.

This year, a significantly larger number of test participants reported to have retransmitted the Spanish language version of the alert. In 2018, 756 test participants retransmitted the alert as it was generated through the IPAWS system, up from only 207 participants in 2017.

This time around, transmission of the test to mobile devices made a lot of headlines. This was the first nationwide test of the WEA system and though data is still coming in, the FCC has determined that the test did at least successfully demonstrate that a WEA can be delivered nationwide.

But there were a few cases of inefficient reception.

Through local emergency management agencies, news reports and feedback from the FCC’s Public Safety Support Center (PSSC), the FCC and FEMA found that approximately 72% of respondents reported receiving the WEA test message. Of the 361 responses that were filed voluntarily with the PSSC, approximately 61% reported no problems in receiving a WEA. The remaining 39% either did not receive a WEA or received one that had issues, such as receiving multiple messages or having problems with the tone or vibration cadence.

Mixed reports came from news agencies across the country.

In the Pacific Northwest, subscribers with several networks, including AT&T and T-Mobile, reported being unable to download data or use their apps for hours after receiving the presidential test alert.

In other cases, participating wireless providers did not successfully deliver the WEA test message at all, while other users indicated that WEA receipt was uneven — some individuals received the alert while others in the same region did not. One journalist revealed that, in the case of his two personal phones, one received the alert twice, while the other did not receive the message at all.

The FCC and FEMA said in a joint release that they will continue to analyze the results and release more detailed findings when available.

Nearly a year after a false missile alert was issued across Hawaii, legislators have taken another step toward addressing the issue of erroneous emergency alerts.

On Dec. 17, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Reliable Emergency Alert Distribution Improvement (READI) Act. The legislation will explore new ways of alerting the public through online video and audio streaming services, will track and study false alerts when they occur, will alter the way states plan for emergency alerts, and will help ensure more people receive relevant emergency alerts on mobile phones, televisions and radios.

The legislation will also give the federal government the primary responsibility of alerting the public of a missile threat. The bill was introduced by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

In short, the READI Act is designed to:

• Ensure more people receive emergency alerts by eliminating the option to opt out of receiving certain federal alerts, including missile alerts, on mobile phones;
• Require active alerts issued by the president or FEMA to be repeated. Currently, alerts on TV or radio may only be played once;
• Explore updating the system to offer emergency alerts over the internet, including to audio and video online streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify;
• Encourage state emergency communications committees to periodically review and update their state emergency alert system plans, which are often out of date;
• Compel the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create best practices for state, tribal, and local governments to use for issuing alerts, avoiding false alerts, and retracting false alerts if they occur, as well as for alert origination training and plans for officials to contact each other and federal officials during emergencies; and
• Establish a reporting system for false alerts so the FCC can track when they occur and examine their causes.

“When a missile alert went out across Hawaii in January, some people never got the message on their phones, while others missed it on their TVs and radios,” said Sen. Schatz, who serves on the Senate Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet Subcommittee.

“Even though it was a false alarm, the missile alert highlighted real ways we can improve the way people receive emergency alerts. [This] bill fixes some of these issues and will help make sure that in an emergency, the public gets the right information they need as quickly as possible,” Schatz said

The National Association of Broadcasters supports the passage of the act, saying the legislation would help improve the timeliness, accuracy and availability of emergency alerts when disaster strikes.

“Local radio and TV broadcasters play a vital role as ‘first informers’ in keeping communities safe, and we understand the importance of relevant and up-to-date information when lives are at risk,” said NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton.

The bill now moves on to the House of Representatives for consideration. 

WASHINGTON--For the first time, the FCC and Federal Emergency Management Agency will conduct a national Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) test, Oct. 3 the agencies said last Friday. The test will run simultaneously with a national EAS test, which is the fourth such test since they started in 2011.

Both tests are part of the International Public Alert System (IPAWS) National Test. The WEA, known as the “Presidential Alert,” portion is scheduled to begin at 2:18 p.m. EDT, followed by EAS portion at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

For the “Presidential Alert,” cell towers will send the test for about 30 minutes, starting at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and Only cell phones within range of cell towers whose wireless provider participates in the WEA program will be able to receive the test message. More than 100 providers currently participate in the WEA program. FEMA officials expect “75 percent of the phones to receive the message.”

FEMA originally scheduled the IPAWS alert for Sept. 20 but cancelled it due to ongoing response efforts to Hurricane Florence. The IPAWS test is required every three years.

During the alert FEMA will access the system’s “operational readiness” and monitor for any abnormalities. Only a presidential “designee” can conduct a test.

The “Presidential Alerts” are one of three that go out over the WEA system. The other two are for dangerous weather events and AMBER Alerts. Presidential Alerts are only used in cases of “public peril” or “imminent attacks,” such as multiple terrorist attacks.

In January, cell phones in Hawaii received a false alarm text message on the WEA system alerting residents of a ballistic missile attack. FEMA and FCC officials said the WEA system test scheduled for Oct. 3 is unrelated to that false alarm.

The message for the WEA portion will read: "Presidential Alert: This is a test of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

The EAS test message will read as follows:

“THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communications Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency an official message would have followed the tone alert you heard at the start of this message. A similar wireless emergency alert test message has been sent to all cell phones nationwide. Some cell phones will receive the message; others will not. No action is required.”

WASHINGTON--Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the date and times for this year’s national tests of of the Wireless Emergency Alert and Emergency Alert System. Both are scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 20, but participating stations must first remember an important deadline.

EAS participants are required to register with the EAS Test Reporting System and must complete ETRS Form One no later than Monday, Aug. 27.

[Read: FCC Advances Goal Of Opening C-Band, Enhances EAS Testing]

Prior to the test, the FCC suggests that participants make sure the EAS Operating Handbook is handy to review; check that the EAS equipment’s software and firmware is up to date and its clock is synchronized with the time provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and also review 2017 ETRS Form One filings.

Then, on Sept. 20 the WEA will be deployed first at 2:18 p.m. (EDT), followed at 2:20 p.m. by the EAS alert test. Then participants must file the “Day of Test” information sought by ETRS Form Two before midnight.

ETRS Form Three, which contains the detailed post-test data, is due on/before Nov. 5.

Note that the back-up date for the EAS test is Oct. 3.

Want to know what changes are in store for EAS and WEA? Mark your calendars for an upcoming webinar on July 25.

The webinar will focus specifically on issues relevant to broadcasters, state and local emergency managers, along with other alerting stakeholders.

Hosted by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau at the Federal Communication Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the topics up for discussion include how authorized alert initiators are trained, recent FCC regulatory actions and changes that are under consideration, recent FEMA updates to the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, and lessons learned from recent alerting events, including the Hawaii false ballistic missile alert.

[Read: FCC Advances Goal Of Opening C-Band, Enhances EAS Testing]

The webinar will be held next Wednesday July 25 from 2–3:30 pm EDT and will be closed captioned. Attendees must register here. Once registered, attendees will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the event with a password and a final link for the meeting.

Additional information about the webinar can be found via Greg Cooke at gregory.cooke@fcc.govor 202-418-2351.

At its July Open Meeting, the FCC adopted a Report and Order that offers new guidance on conducting local tests, proposes to permit public service announcements about EAS with the two-tone signal that precedes an actual alert, and proposes that state emergency agencies include procedures in their EAS plans for correcting false alerts.

EAS and WEA are up for discussion again at the July 12 Open Meeting of the Federal Communications Commission.

As part of its ongoing efforts to revamp the nation’s emergency alerting system, the FCC will consider two documents — a Report and Order as well as a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

The Report and Order proposes several changes, including adopting requirements for performing Live Code Tests, which are those local EAS tests that use actual EAS alert codes to train communities how to respond to actual alerts.

[Read: Missouri The Next State To Conduct A Solo EAS/WEA Test]

Within the last two months, the commission has issued several waivers of its WEA and EAS rules to both mobile providers and public safety officials who are looking to test the viability of EAS and WEA alerts in their local areas. As part of the order, the FCC plans to reiterate that these tests must explicitly state that the event is a test, not an actual emergency.

The Report and Order also proposes to adopt requirements that permit EAS participants to deliver public service announcements that use the EAS Attention Signal — that beepy, attention-grabbing, eight-second audio signal — and a simulation of the Header Code tones (which are those three audible tones that follow the attention signal).

The order also proposes to help prevent false alerts by requiring that EAS participants configure their EAS equipment to reject Common Alerting Protocol-based alerts that contain an invalid digital signature and legacy over-the-air-based alerts whose expiration time falls outside of specific time limits.

The related Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is seeking comment on several areas including:

· Whether there is a need for false alert and lockout reporting, and how such reporting could best be implemented;

· Whether the EAS rules should be revised to require state EAS plans to include procedures for preventing and correcting false alerts;

· And requesting comment on factors such as network distribution issues that might prevent delivery of WEA alerts and steps the commission should take to address inconsistent delivery.

The meeting will start at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on July 12 and will be streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live. Current drafts of all items up for discussion can be found at www.fcc.gov/openmeeting.

WASHINGTON—PBS and America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) told the FCC this week that they support continual improvement of Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages but not at the expense of requiring increased broadcast bandwidth to pass those messages.

The reply comments to the commission come in response to an inquiry by the agency into the feasibility of including multimedia content in WEA messages.

“The PBS Warning, Alert, and Response Network (“WARN”) provides a hardened reliable backup to the primary WEA system, with a fully redundant design that leverages public television’s coverage to send WEA messages over public television transmitters that cover virtually all of the population of the United States and its territories,” public television said in its filing.

[Read: When Disaster Strikes, Public Broadcasting Delivers]

APTS members have adopted a resolution pledging in principle to devote 1Mb/s of public TV digital capacity for FirstNet public safety network participation. Many public TV stations use datacasting via their broadcast infrastructure to transmit encrypted, targetable IP data with their DTV programing. “This combination allows for a nationwide wireless IP delivery network that is natively multicast, just like the TV signals it occupies,” the filing said.

The filing pointed to other ways in which public television is assisting various governmental agencies with the distribution of emergency messaging, including:

• APTS working with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to provide high-speed data delivery for earthquake warnings;
• A Department of Homeland Security pilot in Houston relying on public TV datacasting coupled with a band 14 LTE circuit for two-way communications used by the Houston police and fire departments; and
• A similar pilot test in Chicago involving the WTTW transmitter for emergency communications involving law enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard on Lake Michigan.

According to the filing, “public stations are working with public safety entities locally in their communities and across their states to leverage the capabilities of broadcasting to distribute essential information during emergencies, and as such, must carefully guard bandwidth to ensure that these vital services remain available to communities and first responders.”

After releasing a report about the January false ballistic missile alert in Hawaii, the Federal Communications Commission hosted a public roundtable in May to discuss lessons learned. Individuals from various emergency communications organizations participated.

Among them was Dennis Bookey, broadcast co-chair of the Alaska State Emergency Communications Committee, which recently talked with TV Technology sister publication Radio World about its own recent experience with a false alarm.

Radio World:What specifically was the focus of discussion?

Dennis Bookey: I was told Alaska was chosen to be included in the roundtable because it was a good example of what strong working relationships between public safety and broadcasters should look like. As planning advanced, my role was to contribute to the broadcast end of the system. My contribution was going to be on the reporting of false alerts to the FCC and if that should happen.

Our position on notifying the FCC of false alerts is supportive, provided [such a system] in no way burdens any broadcaster and the goal is sharing information to benefit all EAS participants.

We want the FCC to understand that public safety officials and the SECCs have a great deal of parties to answer to right after such an event, and that the call or report to Washington isn’t at the top of the list. But just in the same way we learn from “best practices,” let’s learn from the things that go wrong.

Radio World: What are the emergency issues that your state has had to address within its EAS State Plan that are unique to Alaska?

Bookey: It’s all about tsunamis. We have an occasional AMBER Alert and some local weather alerts the same as any other state, but our focus at the state level is all about tsunamis. It isn’t just a code listed in the plan. There are detailed explanations and diagrams for how that part of the system works.

We’re in an extremely active seismic region of the world. The National Tsunami Warning System is located just outside of Anchorage. The major cause of death from the ’64 earthquake was from the tsunami that followed.

Radio World: Did you learn anything in the discussions that might be useful to implement for Alaska?

Bookey: Yes. After Hawaii and our own recent false alert, I think it’s good that we have a part of our plan that addresses false alerts.

I don’t believe that necessarily means another EAS automatically goes out. Interrupting broadcasters’ airtime needs to be part of the evaluation. That should be [decided on] a case-by-case basis; but the plan should have the procedure documented and who is involved. We had actually started discussion of that process in our first meeting after the Hawaii FCC report came out.

Radio World:Alaska had its own false EAS alert recently surrounding a tsunami warning. There’s been some discussion that the problem lay with the message that was sent from a vendor in Florida to the state’s emergency communications network. Can you shed additional light on what happened?

Bookey: No one pushed the wrong button. On the morning of May 11, Alaska broadcast stations and cable systems carried one, and in some cases two, tsunami warnings that were actually a test sent by the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

So what happened? Because lives are at stake and every second counts, parts of the Alaska EAS system for tsunami warnings are automated. The Alaska EAS system uses a commercial vendor to supply an additional relay primarily for tsunami and AMBER EAS activations. This system, EMNet, is hooked up to our 22 LP-1 stations, ARCS, APRN and some other key input points across the state. EMNet in turn is hooked up to the National Weather Service Weather Wire, which carries all the warnings and has to filter out the test.

In short, there was some coding contained within the vendor’s weather processing server that failed to recognize the tsunami warning as a test. This allowed the test to pass through to the LP-1s and be carried over the air and daisy-chained to all the stations and systems monitoring their LP-1s in the warned areas. This issue has been rectified.

Radio World:What has your organization learned that you might apply for future tests and alerts?

Bookey: The test that took place happens on a regular basis and is not intended for the EAS system. It’s for the NWS and many of the other components of a tsunami warning outside of the EAS environment. We did learn that our EMNet Relay system can successfully send out a tsunami alert and warn the proper areas as a backup to NOAA weather radio. This reinforces the importance of the system in Alaska’s EAS plan. As stated before, we need to formalize the action steps in the case of a false alert.

We’ve learned a great deal from our most recent actual activation in January that has given us a wealth of information. All of the EAS partners involved in the tsunami warning took away lessons that are effecting changes. We learned how important it is to have multiple streams to broadcast and cable operators of the tsunami activation. NOAA weather radio is great. But it’s not enough. Weather alerts aren’t passed through IPAWS. So you need additional sources.

[Read: Another False EAS Alert, This One Ringing Out In Alaska]

Our EMNet relay system takes on a more critical role as a redundancy. In addition we need to do a more detailed job of setting monitoring points especially with our coastal stations. We’ve also learned the timelines for wireless carrier’s plans for bringing WEA online, which we didn’t know prior to the event. Because WEA testing hasn’t officially been authorized yet, our activation revealed varying results with message distribution. We all need to learn where and on what devices a WEA alert is going to show up.

The public is hungry for this feedback; and we have limited information to give them at this point. WEA testing is critical. We hope to include WEA testing in our annual live code tsunami test next March.

Radio World: Why are roundtables like this important?

Bookey: There are different approaches to EAS across the country. It’s always beneficial when you’re exposed to different procedures, and it’s reassuring when you hear from areas that match your experiences.

In broadcasting we’re all pretty well connected, and keep track of what everybody in our industry is doing; but our public safety exposure is most likely limited to those in our locality and state. I greatly appreciated hearing from the public safety officials involved in emergency planning on the panel, as they work well outside of our day-to-day world.

And let’s admit it. Those are the guys activating our transmitters. Hearing frank conversation from Patrick Sheehan of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency was very enlightening. He was honest enough to admit what we already know: The system is imperfect and it involves humans and humans makes mistakes. There will be other false alerts.

Radio World: What else should we know?

Bookey: We’re all stuck with the technical restrictions of the EAS format. We have to find ways to make it work as best we can. This is one of the areas we rightfully take credit for serving the public good. I hear the line “EAS is broke” quite often. If you think EAS is broke, then get involved and make it better where you live.

WASHINGTON--No missile hit Hawaii in January; but the false alert about one certainly had an impact, heightening the focus on the nation’s alerting system including Wireless Emergency Alerts

At Tuesday’s Federal Communications Commission meeting, all five commissioners including the chairman were in agreement about the need to improve wireless emergency alerting. They adopted rules specifically to improve the geographic targeting of such alerts.

The updated rules are designed to promote wider use and effectiveness of WEA, particularly for state and local authorities to convey critical messages to communities.

The commission also added to the meeting a last-minute presentation by the Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau. It provided a preliminary report from its investigation into the false alert that occurred on Jan. 13.

The FCC will now require wireless providers to deliver WEA alerts in a more geographically precise manner so that alerts reach affected communities but not those outside of an affected area.

This enhanced “geotargeting” requirement — whereby WEA alerts must be delivered no more than a one-tenth of a mile outside of the target area — will go into effect on Nov. 30, 2019. The rules also state that alert messages must remain in an easily accessible format on mobile devices for 24 hours after the alert is sent.

See also: CTIA Says Implementing WEA Geotargeting Changes Will Take Time 

“Today, the FCC took a major step forward in improving our wireless emergency alert system,” Chairman Ajit Pai said. “[Today we] made an important life-saving tool even more effective.”

Other changes to WEA include a requirement that wireless providers support Spanish-language messages and extend the length of alert messages from 90 to 360 characters. The deadline for those enhancements is May 1, 2019.

More information on the changes enacted can be found here.

This article originally appeared in Radio World.

WASHINGTON--The heavy hitters of the wireless industry are pressing the Federal Communications Commission to consider that it will take time — up to three years — to ensure any proposed geotargeting changes can be successfully implemented to the Wireless Emergency Alert system.

Staff from the wireless organization CTIA (along with member companies AT&T, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Qualcomm and Verizon) met with staff from the chairman and commissioners’ offices in early January to offer a framework for moving ahead to improve the geotargeting capabilities of emergency alerts within WEA.

The group explained that there’s a key difference between device-based and network-based solutions: Device-based WEA geotargeting will require fundamental changes to the existing WEA system because a mobile device must process the geotargeting WEA information — as compared to a networked-based solution, in which a mobile phone can simply present a cell-broadcast WEA message as-is. In the latter case, the CTIA said, there’s no need to process or analyze the alert content in any way.

Thus, CTIA said, wireless companies must create new device standards, solutions and best-practice scenarios within devices to handle device-based WEA geotargeting. “Such a fundamental shift in WEA capabilities will require new mobile wireless network and device standards and solutions, as well as new or modified technologies and practices for FEMA’s IPAWS and alert originators,” the group said in its filing with the FCC.

As a result, the group said, it will take the industry at least 36 months to move forward, “given the significant efforts that will be necessary to support this new capability,” CTIA said.

The CTIA said it might be possible to begin testing new WEA enhancements with a prototype device using device-based geotargeting methods by Dec. 31, 2019. More testing needs to be done to determine if existing devices can be modified to support WEA geotargeting capabilities, the CTIA said. The FCC has proposed for geotargeting to go into effect Nov. 30, 2019.

The CTIA filing is one of many comments within the commission’s ECFS database on improving WEA and EAS. Filers can search for filings and submit their own using Docket 15-91.

This article originally appeared on Radio World.