AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel and T-Mobile have signed on to a ...
AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel and T-Mobile have signed on to a digital Emergency Alert System (DEAS) pilot launched jointly by the Assn. of Public TV Stations and the Dept. of Homeland Security (CD Sept 29 p7), APTS Pres. John…
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Lawson said Thurs. At the formal launch of the 6- month pilot in Washington, he said he expected to add other wireless carriers. He said the pilot would demonstrate improved mechanisms for distributing digital emergency alerts and warning messages via digital TV and satellite to an expanded range of retransmission media, including wireless, cable and Internet service providers. The pilot will simulate DHS-generated test messages sent through an access point located at public broadcaster WETA Washington, which would broadcast it to a variety of relay points and end-user devices as well as PBS. In turn, PBS would distribute that message through its satellite interconnection system to Md. PTV, N.J. Network and WHRO Norfolk. Other APTS member stations would receive the test data and could re-broadcast it to test the reception in their own markets, Lawson said. Reynold Hoover, dir. of FEMA’s Office of National Security Coordination, said the agency realized there was no single EAS solution, which is why the public TV project is important to demonstrate that messages reached the greatest number of people. He said EAS also had a valuable local component for the media in amber alerts and hazards and weather warnings.