FCC Still Has Big Job Ahead Upgrading 911, Genachowski Says
The FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday they're working with major carriers on an early version of a system that will send emergency alerts to wireless devices. The Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) will premier in New York and Washington by the end of the year, with deployment to follow elsewhere in mid-2012.
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The announcement was years in the making. The FCC’s original target date for alerts to cellphones was December 2010. A group representing carriers, public safety and other interests, the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee, met throughout 2007 to hammer out rules. The law requiring a voluntary program of targeted alerts to wireless devices, the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act, was approved by Congress in 2006.
Genachowski said in an interview he’s not unhappy with the length of time it has taken to launch the network. “We set a deadline for April 2012 to get this out there and now we're accelerating that in two major markets,” he said. “We're moving faster than planned and the early launch in two markets will help accelerate the roll out in all the other markets because it’s pushing manufacturers and carriers to move quickly. When the major carriers get ready for New York and Washington, that’s really getting ready for the whole country.”
Genachowski conceded “we have a lot more work to do” to modernize 911. Getting PLAN in place naturally took years, he said. “The technology has to be designed, built, get into the manufacturing [systems] so it can be rolled out in phones,” he told us. “On the government side work has to be done to establish protocols for communications. You can’t move fast enough when it comes to communications in public safety, but I think this is an example of a big step forward."
Making it possible for 911 call centers to accept emergency text messages also will take time, Genachowski said. “There are a lot of 911 call centers in the country,” he said. “It’s a very significant technological upgrade throughout the country. It’s something that’s impossible to happen overnight.” Genachowski said he has not made up his mind on whether he will appoint a blue ribbon panel to examine how to pay for next generation 911, as recommended in March by the FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council. “I'm generally supportive of CSRIC and it’s recommendations,” he said.
Genachowski, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the new system at the World Trade Center site, joined by top carrier executives.
"Given the kinds of threats made against New York City at the World Trade Center, Times Square, and other places popular with visitors and tourists, we'll be even safer when authorities can broadcast warnings to everyone in a geographic area regardless of where they came from or bought their phone,” Bloomberg said.
Genachowski said PLAN alerts supplement EAS warnings already being transmitted by broadcasters and cable operators. “We know this kind of alerting system can make a difference,” he said. “We saw it in Japan, where they have an earthquake early warning system that issued alerts that saved lives."
The four major national carriers announced plans to participate -- Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile. The new system will transmit alerts issued by the president, alerts involving imminent threats to safety of life, and Amber alerts. Participating carriers are allowed to let subscribers block all but presidential alerts.
"I stated several months ago that wireless carriers would work to beat the FCC’s April 2012 timeline, and today’s announcements reflect this commitment,” said CTIA President Steve Largent. “The industry is devoting the resources to roll out wireless emergency alerts as quickly as possible, in concert with FEMA’s establishment of the necessary procedures for aggregating and administering these alerts.”
"We're pleased that cellphone carriers plan to live up to their promise to Congress five years ago to implement an emergency alert messaging system,” NAB said in a statement. “However, when a cellular network goes down, customers will still be unable to access these 90-character warnings. As was evidenced in Alabama and other parts of the South just two weeks ago, there is no communications system that matches the life-saving immediacy of a local broadcast signal.”