Wireless carriers warned the FCC proposed reporting requirements in a Further NPRM on wireless emergency alerts would require wholesale changes in alerting technology and asks for information they can’t collect. APCO and the National Weather Service (NWS) asked the agency to impose reporting requirements on industry. Comments were posted Wednesday in docket 15-91. Commissioners approved the FNPRM in April (see 2204190053).
The FCC’s newly reconstituted Technology Advisory Council met for the second time Thursday, dedicated to exploring 6G, as directed by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. She and TAC members said 5G is still in early stages, but it’s not too early to focus on the next generation of wireless. TAC heard updates from its working groups on the work they have done so far during a virtual meeting.
Radio interests and allies are both left and right of the dial on GeoBroadcast Solutions tests supposedly showing its ZoneCasting technology enables safe geo-targeted radio advertising (see 2204180046). The sides in docket 20-401 comments this week called the GBS studies either solid or cherry-picking scenarios to hide interference risks. Replies are due June 21.
Preparing for and responding to disasters is “truly a partnership” among different levels of government and industry, said FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Debra Jordan at an FCBA virtual event Wednesday. The FCC works hard “at building relationships at the state, the regional and the national level, so when there's a disaster we can ... partner and immediately begin jumping on the task [at] hand, and hopefully have a level of trust going into this." The commission plans to do outreach this summer on how states and others can access its disaster information reporting system (DIRS) and network outage reporting system (D) databases, said Jordan. The FCC adopted a framework last year to provide access to state, federal and tribal nations, with information sharing rules taking effect in September, she said. “We will have an application process that will grant agencies access to this information after certifying to requirements for maintaining the confidentiality of the data, as well as the security of the databases.” Jordan urged more collaboration on wireless emergency alert testing to address lingering issues with geofencing and delivery. The FCC used to respond mainly to hurricanes, but climate change is bringing more wildfires, tornadoes and severe winter storms, noted the bureau chief. Communications industry compliance is “high” but “not where we want it to be” with the California Public Utilities Commission’s 72-hour backup power requirements for wireline and wireless facilities, said CPUC Communications Division Director Robert Osborn. “It's not 100%.” The COVID-19 pandemic made it tougher for staff to visit sites to confirm backup power is present, but the agency is hoping to do more soon, he said. Distinguishing between traditional and IP-based networks on resiliency is a “thing of the past,” said Osborn. “We really just need to focus on the communication grid as a critical infrastructure.” Since the CPUC efforts, “we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in the resiliency of our networks,” said California Office of Emergency Services 911 Branch Manager Budge Currier. “They’re surviving a little bit better during disasters.”
The FCC should promote increased use of IP-based emergency alerts rather than overhauling the legacy emergency alert system to increase accessibility, said NAB, NPR and alerting equipment manufacturer Digital Alert Systems in reply comments posted in docket 15-94 Wednesday. Common alerting protocol messages have “superior accessibility capabilities,” NAB said. While pushing CAP, the FCC should preserve the legacy EAS system “as a redundant, more resilient pathway when internet connectivity is disrupted.” Digital Alert Systems (DAS) said it doesn’t agree with some commenters that adding some additional text or embedded ancillary data to alerts would substantially increase the length of time a message plays. “We feel that such representations may overstate any potential issues,” said DAS. “One must consider the actual length or time an ancillary data frame might require, which may be a scant few seconds in practice, against the real-world spoken length of EAS messages.” Media that have a limited ability to display visual information -- such as many car radios -- may be able to increase alerting accessibility using symbology, DAS said. NPR and DAS said the FCC should let broadcasters adopt new technology to increase alert accessibility on a voluntary basis. The FCC should convene a multistakeholder initiative to “consider voluntary avenues for improving emergency alerting and informing in the United States,” said the Advanced Television Systems Committee and the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance in joint comments. As alerts exist now, deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals “often have to cobble information together through several different sources to learn vital information” in emergencies, said the National Disability Rights Network.
LAS VEGAS -- No nationwide test of the emergency alert system will be held in 2022 to allow Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a comprehensive survey instrument to gauge the effectiveness of wireless emergency alerts, announced FEMA officials on an NAB Show 2022 panel Monday. “We are planning for that in the early part of 2023,” said Antwane Johnson, acting deputy assistant administrator-FEMA National Continuity Programs Directorate. Gathering data on previous nationwide WEA tests has been difficult, necessitating the survey effort, said Al Kenyon, FEMA customer support branch chief-integrated public alert warning system, in an interview Tuesday.
Changes from the drafts of a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and a Further NPRM on wireless emergency alerts appear to follow changes highlighted by FCC staff Thursday, based on side-by-side comparisons. Both were approved 4-0 and were listed in Friday’s Daily Digest. The NOI had more changes, focused on promoting innovation (see 2204210049). The final version uses the word innovation 48 times, compared with 38 in the draft. In one change, a question on how the FCC could “assess voluntary approaches in the context of innovation and the marketplace” now includes the words “and which approaches would be most or least effective when it comes to facilitating innovation while promoting improved receiver performance.” The FNPRM now asks how various approaches on receivers “might affect innovation in spectrum utilization.” The FCC asks: “How might these measures affect the development and costs and benefits of innovation associated with new wireless use cases? Compared to the Commission’s approach to receiver performance to date, how might any of the approaches … potentially serve to promote innovation in spectrum use, including not only in receiver but in transmitter design and performance as well?” The final version also raises new public safety and national security concerns. “Would improvements in receiver interference immunity performance (e.g., selectivity to reject unwanted emissions) enhance the ability of receivers to reject jamming and spoofing attempts?” it asks: “How might the Commission best consider the trade-offs concerning potentially affected stakeholders?” The FNPRM also adds a paragraph on the life cycle of devices. “Should receivers that may meet a standard when they are deployed be upgraded or replaced in the future to merit interference protection under the Commission’s rules if new receiver standards are developed that provide increased interference immunity?” it asks: “We note that different systems have different expected lifecycles. We request comment on whether the Commission should consider a specified time frame from the date a receiver was deployed after which it should be expected to meet newer standards.” The biggest change to the FNPRM from the draft addresses questions raised by CTIA on the technical feasibility of new requirements in light of current cell-broadcast technology, as officials indicated Thursday (see 2204210050). “If it is not feasible for Participating CMS [commercial mobile service] Providers to collect this information from WEA networks and devices as currently designed, then what network or device firmware or software changes would be needed for Participating CMS Providers to comply with the proposed reporting requirements?” the FNPRM asks: “How much time would be necessary to complete these steps?” The FNPRM also updates numbers, noting that as of April 7 “639 emergency management agencies across the nation have issued 62,819 WEA alerts,” compared with 619 agencies and 61,764 alerts tabulated earlier.
FCC commissioners indicated support for potentially imposing reporting requirements on carriers, as they approved a Further NPRM seeking comment on improving wireless emergency alerts 4-0 Thursday. CTIA has already expressed concerns over mandates in what has been a voluntary program (see 2204140046). The FCC also released a public notice on partnerships with local emergency agencies to gather data on how WEA is performing at the local level.
Tests of GeoBroadcast Solutions geotargeted radio technology show it works in a variety of environments, said National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters President Jim Winston and Roberts Radio CEO Steve Roberts in meetings last week with FCC Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer and aides to both Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington, according to an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 20-401. The agency opened up a new round of comments in the proceeding Monday. A report on the tests from broadcast engineers Roberson and Associates said the geotargeted broadcasts were narrowly targeted even in terrain without many impediments to signal propagation. The additional tests were performed on the technology in response to questions from the Media Bureau, the filing said. The tests also showed the tech doesn’t affect emergency alert system broadcasts, the filing said. “Giving broadcasters who wish to the ability to deploy geo-targeting technology can give minority and smaller broadcasters a new tool with which to compete,” the filing said. NAB, iHeartMedia, and other companies opposed the GBS proposal (see 2204070055).
The FCC should focus efforts to improve the emergency alert system on the internet-based common alerting protocol (CAP) system rather than the legacy daisy chain EAS, said broadcast alerting equipment manufacturers and cable groups in comments posted this week in docket 15-94. A notice of inquiry sought comments on possible improvements to the legacy system to make it more accessible and increase the amount of text in alerts.