EAS, WEA Tests Expected to Improve Upon Past Versions
Aug. 11 nationwide tests of the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts are expected to proceed similarly to the last ones but more smoothly, said broadcasters and EAS officials in interviews. Volume problems and transmission issues that caused a drop-off in reception in the 2019 EAS exercise (see 2005120064) have been addressed. The 2021 WEA test requires users to have opted in to get the test message, unlike the 2018 version. The 2020 test was canceled due to COVID-19. “If something fails, we try to go back and see where it’s not working,” said Wyoming Association of Broadcasters President Laura Grott.
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Like in 2019, this EAS simulation will use the legacy, “daisy-chain” method of transmitting the broadcast alert, rather than the internet-based Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS). The legacy system is kept up for emergencies “when the internet isn’t working,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Timothy Schott.
Before 2019, the daisy chain hadn’t been tested on its own since the initial nationwide EAS test in 2011. The 2011 exercise had an error with a looped message that caused some stations not to forward the alert. Industry officials said that was corrected for 2019. Results in 2019 showed only 84.3% of test participants received the broadcast alert, compared with 95.5% in 2018 and 95.8% in 2017 -- both tests that combined the legacy system with IPAWS. The 2019 report said 81.5% of participants retransmitted the alert, down from 91.8% in 2018. The FCC didn’t comment Monday.
Broadcasters and industry officials said the audio problems will be corrected for this test. “Every time they do this, they’re looking to incrementally improve,” said Digital Alert Systems Vice President Ed Czarnecki. “The systems are pretty much automatic,” said WIBW(AM) Topeka, Kansas, Chief Engineer Roy Baum, who chairs the Kansas State Emergency Communications Committee. Czarnecki said he’s concerned that not having the test in 2020 could lead to errors, but broadcasters disagreed. Baum doesn’t expect hitches, saying it wasn’t necessary to forego the nationwide test. “There’s no reason they couldn’t have done it last year.” The nationwide test “is just another test coming in,” said Chris Murray, engineer and Oregon SECC chair.
The daisy chain doesn’t allow as much information to be delivered as alerts transmitted through IPAWS and also doesn’t allow multilingual alerting. The legacy system should be updated, said Benjamin Krakauer, executive adviser to the New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) commissioner. WEAs can be delivered in multiple languages but don’t address the “important part of the population that doesn’t have a smartphone,” Krakauer said.
Industry has “done a decent job of putting the word out,” said Fletcher Heald’s Francisco Montero. “I can tell when smaller and independent stations are contacting me because they are having trouble logging in to file” the reporting system form, he said. “It’s when no one calls that you have to start worrying.”
Carriers
Wireless carrier lawyers said they don’t expect problems. In the first national test in 2018, many alerts didn’t go through (see 1812210056).
The major difference this time is that the WEA portion will be directed only to consumer phones where the subscriber has opted in to receive test messages. “The test message will display in either English or in Spanish, depending on the language settings of the wireless handset,” the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. Apple's support website indicates that its phones don't receive such messages by default, and FEMA said that for many phones, the test messages must be enabled in the notifications menu.
The WEA test is important because of how effective such messages are, Krakauer said. A citywide WEA encouraging energy conservation in New York during a heatwave cut power usage, Krakauer said. There are concerns that WEA use could exacerbate alerting fatigue, but New York has been careful about over-alerting, said Krakauer and Rebecca Baudendistel, New York Office of Emergency Management Director of Public Warning. The city has used WEAs 19 times since they were enacted in 2012, she said.
The run-up to the 2018 WEA test had a “go dark” campaign from opponents of then-President Donald Trump who characterized the “Presidential alert” as a direct message to cellphones from Trump (see 1809210032). There doesn’t appear to be a similar campaign for 2021. Industry officials said the opt-in nature of the 2021 WEA test will likely minimize that.
Twitter searches show some users speculating that the Aug. 11 test is a facade for a clandestine operation or foreign attack, or intended to disrupt an election fraud event to be held that day by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. The timing of such tests is chosen months in advance and aims at dates that aren’t in the way of expected severe weather or major sports events, Czarniak said. The FCC voted in June to merge presidential alerts with FEMA administrator alerts and call them “National Alerts.” Alerts can be affected by the messenger, said Krakauer. “Politicians can be polarizing.”
The FCC sent letters to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon last week asking questions to be answered within two weeks of the test (see 2107200032). The FCC also announced it was working with 11 federal, state and local agencies to assess the delivery of alerts. The major carriers declined comment, referring us to CTIA.
“We are working closely" with FEMA and the FCC to prepare for the upcoming nationwide” test “and remind consumers that they may only see the test message if they have opted into displaying public safety test messages on their handsets,” emailed Matt Gerst, CTIA vice president-regulatory affairs. He noted there have been 61,000 total WEAs sent.