Emergency Alert Capability on Cellphones Could Zap Battery Life
The effect on cellphone battery life if handsets must be capable of receiving emergency alerts has emerged as a major issue as the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee readies a final report. That issue is especially significant since recharging a phone can be difficult or impossible during emergencies. The report is due to be submitted to the FCC in Oct. The full committee met Wed. for the 3rd time at FCC hq for an update on emerging issues (CD Dec 13 p3) and to receive reports from its working groups.
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The Communications Technology Group (CTG) is examining reports that battery life could suffer on some handset models if they have to be made capable of receiving alerts, said Brian Daly of AT&T, the working group’s leader. More research is needed, he said, and considerations include the frequency of alerts or a requirement that the device vibrate every few minutes after an alert is sent. “If you increase the number of languages supported, the number of messages that are delivered, the number of retransmissions, any alert tones, how long the alert tone is given… all could have impact on the battery life,” Daly said: “The CTG takes this very seriously.”
Also under discussion, Daly said, is how to devise an alert system that carriers can adopt over a number of years. “We have to realize that commercial mobile alerts isn’t going to be a flash-cut and available immediately,” he said: “We need to come up with a process that will allow providers to transmit alerts if not all the devices or equipment used by the provider can be capable of transmitting or receiving such alerts and also if the provider does not have the capability to offer those alerts throughout the entirety of the service area.”
The alert system should also be able to “evolve with technology,” Daly said. “We have to find service profiles that are not restricted to text. We are looking to the future when more broadband technologies are available and deployed by operators.”
David Webb of FEMA, leader of the Alerting Interface Group, said his group is focusing on rules governing release of alerts to the public: “Who can send alerts, to which locations, how -- all of those things need to be defined.” Also under development are rules for deciding how broadly messages will be transmitted - to individual or multiple counties or statewide. Carriers might also target areas smaller than counties.
The amount of information that subscribers will receive in each alert also must be resolved, Webb said. “The latest conclusion that we have arrived at is… we should use at least the event code, the location, the expiration and instruction as a minimum message that will be broadcast.” Webb added, if the committee decides a message can contain more characters “we can build a more robust message.”
The committee also is considering how to reach people with disabilities and whether alerts should be transmitted in Spanish or other languages besides English. The committee must decide whether subscribers will be allowed to opt out from receiving all but the most extreme warnings or out of receiving Amber Alerts. System security also is a key focus of the committee, as is whether cellphones will vibrate in a unique way or ring with a tone reserved just for alerts.
The committee won’t be able to answer a crucial question: How many wireless subscribers will benefit from warnings. Under the WARN Act that created the committee, carrier participation is voluntary, though most of the major carriers are expected to take part.