Public Broadcasting Partners Moving Forward with Mobile DTV Emergency Alert System
The mobile emergency alert system pilot project, led by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has the potential to foster more collaboration between public and commercial broadcasters and also between public broadcasters and their local alert and public safety organizations, some public broadcasting and mobile professionals said Monday at the Public Media Summit sponsored by the Association of Public Television Stations. For the pilot, three public TV stations will create and distribute emergency alerts using video, text and other media, through devices manufactured by LG Electronics (CD June 6 p 11). The test networks are Vegas PBS, Alabama Public Television and WGBH TV and Radio in Boston.
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The program’s partners, including Harris Corp. and the Mobile 500 Alliance, are trying to create a template “that is easily adopted by public and commercial stations,” and one that is easily deployed, said John Lawson, Mobile 500 executive director. Implementation requires no additional spectrum or bandwidth for stations and the system will be compatible with local alert systems and the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.
The investment for stations will be relatively small, said Joseph Igoe, WGBH chief technology officer. “Once you've got your mobile DTV system up and running, you just need to add a server to start receiving alerts, [and] make sure you have connections to public safety so you can get all the data.” The investment will likely be in the low thousands to add it on to an existing system, he said.
PBS was already granted funding from NTIA to build out the national infrastructure needed to distribute warning messages for the Warning Alert and Response Network, said John McCoskey, PBS chief technology officer. The mobile EAS project is “another case of being able to find a scale at the national level, particularly a service that a lot of the back-end is paid for as part of the WARN Act,” he said. There is great potential for public broadcasting stations to benefit from the infrastructure aside from their involvement in the national system, he said: “Emergency messaging at the national level is important, but once that infrastructure is in place, I think the real value is … that stations can leverage that with their local public safety groups and build on top of that infrastructure that is there."
LG will provide Android devices with mobile DTV capability, which will be used to receive data from the system, said John Taylor, LG spokesman. The handsets are equipped with a “secret sauce” that could lead to expansion of mobile DTV, he said: “We think mobile urgency alerting capability will help drive receivers into the marketplace.” Many other brands can help achieve this, he said. Commercial and public broadcasters are needed to make the ecosystem complete, Taylor added.
The use of mobile DTV in emergency situations broadens the argument for spectrum, said Tom Axtell, Vegas PBS general manager. In meetings with Capitol Hill lawmakers, Axtell plans to discuss the network’s use of data casting to provide educational communications to local schools. Not only is mobile EAS spectrum critical for schools, “but for our ability to contribute to public safety,” he said. “Our spectrum is our beach front property,” said Allan Pizzato, Alabama Public Television executive director. “Everyone should hold on to their spectrum.” All stations are faced with the loss of Public Telecommunications Facilities Program funding “and how we're going to capitalize and get funds for equipment,” he said. “This is a wonderful way of doing that.”
Tom Ridge, former Department of Homeland Security secretary, urged public media leaders to emphasize contributions to education and in-depth journalism in making their case to Congress for continued federal support for public broadcasting. Promoting non-commercial television is critically important, he said. Compared to commercial media, “you're far more substantive because you're non-commercial TV,” he told APTS members. “The educational component is absolutely sensational.” It’s one of the few reasons to have a TV, he said. “We don’t need 200 channels, but I'd like to see more channels devoted to public television.” Ridge compared media consolidation to bank consolidation: When banks consolidate into big monolithic banks, “there’s a distance, an alienation. There’s almost a disconnect.” The big networks are the big banks, not connected to a region or state, he added. “The opportunity you bring to that local community is that connection with the community.” Commercial stations may be local in nature, but their agenda isn’t driven by local needs and desires, he said. Congress ought to fund public radio and TV, like schools and libraries, he said: “It’s an extension of how you teach, it’s an extension of how you learn.”