WASHINGTON—In response to effort by the Federal Communications Commission to modernize the country’s alerting systems, the ATSC, the broadcast standards association has submitted comments to the FCC saying that “the ATSC 3.0 next-generation broadcast standards developed by ATSC, is designed to provide accessible, multi-lingual, rich-media, geo-targeted emergency messaging over the air…[with features that offer]...”substantial benefits to public safety and emergency communication.”
The ATSC submitted the comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the FCC’s PS Docket No. 25-224 concerning the potential improvements to the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).
The filing signed by ATSC president Madeleine Noland, stressed that while the standards group “does not advocate for regulatory change” it felt that “it is important to inform the Commission and the public about the technical capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard—specifically, its optional Advanced Emergency Information (AEI) features—that align with and could complement many of the use cases discussed in the NPRM. These optional technical features also may provide examples of how such functions could be supported in other settings.”
The filing explains that ATSC 3.0’s AEI service "represents a valuable, voluntary innovation that can enrich public warning with media-rich content, multilingual resources, and accessibility features. Because AEI is an optional element within a voluntary standard, it should be recognized as a supplemental enhancement—not a substitute—for core alerting mechanisms such as EAS (and, where appropriate, WEA). Properly framed, AEI can complement these systems by expanding the ways in which the public receives and engages with emergency information, while preserving the primacy and reliability of the nation’s baseline alerting infrastructure.”
The filing also stressed that its AEI capabilities were designed with input from emergency management professionals. Those capabilities include:
- Text, audio, and video alerts, including sign language video and multi-lingual support.
- Location-targeted messaging to specific geographic areas down to the broadcast cell level and further filtered for location at the device level using multiple shapes such as polygons, circles, and postal code identifiers.
- Iterative “update” and “cancel” message types, making it suitable for fast-moving or evolving emergencies.
- Content to fixed and mobile devices, public signage and more, even in the absence of internet or cellular connectivity.
- Broadcaster applications that enable customization based on user preferences such as language preference, alert type, severity level, dismiss/redisplay message, and geographic area of interest to help reduce alert fatigue.
- Content scoped to a particular audience, such as the general public or first responders
The filing also stressed that "a number of impactful pilot projects in the United States have demonstrated the viability of AEI in real-world conditions, including delivery of tornado warnings with embedded video, wildfire evacuation notices with maps and visuals, and multilingual alerts in communities with diverse populations."
The full filing is available here.
