DHS Extends APTS-Led Digital Emergency Alert Pilot
The Homeland Security Dept. (DHS) has extended the Assn. of Public TV Stations (APTS)-led digital emergency alert system (DEAS) pilot by 6 months after the “resounding success” of the first phase, APTS Pres. John Lawson said. DHS and APTS signed an agreement for a DEAS pilot in the D.C. area to show how public TV’s digital infrastructure could be used to send EAS messages to the public and TVs, radios, personal computers, phones and wireless networks (CD Sept 29/2004 p7).
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Besides APTS, public broadcasting participants in the pilot included PBS, WETA Washington, Md. Public TV, WHRO Norfolk, KAKM Anchorage and N.J. Network. They were joined by WTOP(AM) Washington, WRC-TV Washington, Comcast, NCTA, XM Satellite Radio, Cingular, Nextel, T-Mobile, CTIA and USA Mobility. The focus of the first phase was to test whether emergency alert and warning messages could be sent successfully to end-users in the Common Alerting Protocol format, Lawson said. The pilot was based on real-time activation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of simulated emergency alert and warning messages into the DTV network of PBS and WETA, which resent alert messages to other participants.
Lawson told a Senate panel last week the pilot showed the public TV infrastructure “works and works well.” He said the extended pilot program would lay the foundation for national rollout of a digitally-based federal public alert and warning system. He said phase 2 will include: (1) Testing and evaluation and further developing components. There will be more test sites, including state emergency operations and public broadcasting stations outside the D.C. area. (2) Working with other alert and warning pilots and vendors, such as a DHS program that will provide satellite connectivity to the country’s primary entry point (PHP) stations. The other pilots also figure in the DHS goal of an integrated public alert warning system (IPAWS). (3) Developing a DEAS national deployment plan and a final report to Congress. The national rollout plan will include construction timelines, technical risk determinations and other technical implementation options.
Lawson took the opportunity to push for sustained funding for PBS’s new satellite interconnection system, which he said is critical to the “ultimate viability” of DEAS. The system PBS uses to distribute programming to member stations is aging and is set to go dark in Oct. 2006 when leases on satellite transponders expire, he said. Congress, he said, so far has funded 2 of 4 installments for a replacement. “Continued appropriations in FY 2006 are extremely important to secure long-term leases on new satellite capacity as well as enhanced terrestrial distribution capabilities.” The infrastructure that ensures distribution of national programming also forms the backbone for distribution of emergency alert and warning messages under DEAS, Lawson said.