EAS Test Participants Divided on Possibility of 2014 Nationwide Test
Odds of a nationwide emergency alert system test this year, the second-ever such exercise, likely depend on how effectively and quickly the FCC can address the aspects of the test location code, some EAS experts said in interviews. The Public Safety Bureau is preparing for a test to follow the first one in 2011 (CD May 2 p1). The FCC received comments about time discrepancies, the location code and other concerns, in response to a public notice that asked about equipment and operational issues from the test (CD Nov 12 p8). No parameters or date for another test has been set, an FCC official said.
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While there are some issues to resolve, solving the audio quality problems could make a 2014 test possible, said Nevada State Emergency Communications Committee Chairwoman Adrienne Abbott. The easiest item appears to be the recommendation to use a national location code, she said. Not all EAS equipment functions similarly and can read the code, which makes it difficult to get everyone’s equipment to respond in the same way, she said. “Most of the manufacturers say they can do this and make the upgrade available.” Abbott is on the FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) EAS working group, which plans to release a report offering recommendations for a new test, she said.
Other experts were doubtful about a 2014 test, mainly due to pending EAS-related issues at the commission. The CSRIC working group is going through some aspects of the public notice, said Maine Association of Broadcasters President Suzanne Goucher, also on the EAS working group. The FCC will most likely issue an NPRM based on CSRIC’s findings, which is a process that takes time, she said. “I'm not sure I see how another national test could happen in 2014.” The FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have to figure out what test code capability they want and when, she said: That’s “the first alligator the commission needs to wrestle with.” The agencies could opt for a real presidential alert using the emergency activation notification (EAN) code to test once every few years the capability of the system to hold a message longer than two minutes or they can choose to use the national periodic test code for an annual test, she said. “It makes a lot of sense to adopt a location code that encompasses the whole nation.” That way “every box in creation knows that it’s a national message,” she said.
Changing rules for EAS equipment could derail any plans for a test this year, said Allen Studer, an EAS engineer at Trilithic. The Public Safety Bureau recommended the FCC examine equipment performance issues during EAN activation and consider rule changes to ensure that all equipment operates in a mutually consistent fashion (CD April 16/13 p5). “If they do change the regulations, it becomes pointless to test something that might be changing shortly,” Studer said.
Whether it’s doable this year depends on how some of the outstanding issues are addressed by the FCC, said Ross Lieberman, American Cable Association vice president-government affairs. The EAS header code, location code, time of release code and other issues that are important to smaller cable operators “may take more time to come into compliance to satisfy how the FCC may conduct the national test,” he said. ACA members could benefit from better direction on where the FCC is headed on those elements, as well as the commission’s expectations for the visual crawl and audio accessibility factors, he said. “Once that is made more clear to us, we can better assess how long it would take for us, if at all, to be able to meet that."
Lieberman said determining the goals of the test and ensuring it will achieve them are more important than rushing to have a test. Due to the time, effort and potential disruption to the public with an exercise, “it’s important that the defined goals of the test are met and that we make sure we have enough time to ensure that we're going to have the most productive test possible,” he said.
NAB sees a nationwide EAS test as possible this year, “provided the test is reasonably noticed ahead of time and an extensive campaign is made to inform the public,” a spokesman said. “We believe the issues raised by the first test have been addressed but that regularly scheduled testing is necessary to ensure we have a robust alerting system that provides accurate information during times of emergency.”