The 2021 nationwide emergency alert system test showed improvement over the 2019 version, but difficulties with primary entry point stations and low participation by low-power broadcasters affected the results, the FCC reported last week on the Aug. 11 test. The agency also issued a report on the simultaneous wireless emergency alert test (see 2112300045).
Jenner & Block elects lawyers to the partnership, including Jacob Tracer, member of Content, Media and Entertainment Practice focusing on "intellectual property and complex commercial disputes," and Camillie Landron, member of Communications, Internet and Technology Practice, working on FCC spectrum and other telecom issues and with the "space and satellite industries."
Completed surveys after the August nationwide wireless emergency alert test (see 2108110067) showed the test message was received by about 90% opting into the test with a compatible device, said an FCC Public Safety Bureau report released Thursday. The test “successfully demonstrated that the nationwide WEA system would largely perform as designed if needed for a national emergency” but showed the need to address some deficiencies, the report said: “Over 10% of mobile devices failed to receive the test message intended for them. Thirty-two percent of respondents completing the survey report receiving a duplicate test message.” Most received an alert within two minutes of transmission, the report said. The bureau said “AT&T and Verizon offer a WEA service that is similarly reliable,” and T-Mobile’s appears to be “reliable,” but there isn’t enough data to make a “statistically significant finding.” The bureau found major differences between wireless generations. Some 66.7% of those with 3G devices didn’t receive a message, compared with 8.4% with 4G and 9.3% with 5G phones. Results were similar among manufacturers and operating systems. The bureau said it will “continue to examine the reliability of older WEA-capable mobile devices that are not technically capable of receiving a State/Local WEA Test Alert and WEA’s end-to-end latency for non-nationwide activations.” The bureau also plans to work with FEMA to “evaluate the accuracy and latency of WEA geo-targeting,” address “the challenges of opting in to receive State/Local WEA Test Alerts and “promote an evenly distributed sample of survey respondents.” The bureau also plans to examine why 10.2% of devices didn’t receive the nationwide test while others got a duplicate message, and which smaller carriers aren’t participating in the program and encourage them to do so, the report said.
Satellite, wireline, wireless and broadcast industry groups almost uniformly opposed FCC proposals for stricter network resiliency requirements, in comments posted in docket 21-346 through Friday. Providers work voluntarily to share information and preserve their networks, so the FCC should “avoid unnecessary and burdensome additional regulation” said NTCA, similar to NAB, USTelecom and others. The FCC “shouldn’t take an overly prescriptive approach to unpredictable and highly variable events,” said the Competitive Carriers Association.
Citing a GAO report identifying fraud risks in E-rate's competitive bidding process, FCC commissioners during a meeting Tuesday unanimously approved an NPRM to establish a central online bidding portal and seek comment on requiring additional documentation from applicants (see 2111300047). The NPRM had a tweak that Commissioner Brendan Carr sought. Members also adopted 4-0 an NPRM on revising the commission’s non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) spectrum sharing rules and proposals to improve emergency alert system accessibility.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $20,000 forfeiture against Beasley Media over a radio show transmitting unauthorized emergency alert system tones, said a notice of apparent liability Friday. The tones aired in September 2020 during a programming block paid for by the Doug Basham Radio Show on KDWN(AM) Las Vegas, and were broadcast by Basham as a “stunt,” the NAL said. A subchannel of Beasley’s, KKLZ(FM) Las Vegas, and Beasley FM translator K268CS Las Vegas, retransmitted the signal, airing the tones as well. A Beasley employee confronted Basham “immediately” after the tones aired and notified KWDN’s program director, the NAL said. The bureau adjusted the proposed violation upward because of the rebroadcasts and the large market involved. Beasley didn’t comment.
An NPRM and notice of inquiry on accessibility in emergency alert system messages are likely to be unanimously approved as-is, said FCC and industry officials in interviews. Alerting industry officials said the agency’s proposals need fine-tuning, but strong industry pushback isn’t expected. Accessible alerts are “certainly a laudable goal,” said Sage Alerting President Harold Price. Comments on the item would go to docket 15-94.
After years of the IoT serving niche applications and specialized use cases, trends are converging to push it mainstream by creating new ways for products and services to interact with individuals, the cloud environment and potentially “thousands of applications,” said a Tuesday Technicolor report. Advances in processing power, automation and intelligence have evolved over the past decade at the same time costs have dropped for sensors that connect devices to hubs. “The biggest difference between where we are today and where we were five years ago is that IoT is increasingly seen as a mainstream technology that is accepted as an important part of the fabric that defines our digital lives,” said Girish Naganathan, chief technology officer, Technicolor Connected Home. IoT applications are emerging in building management, energy efficiency, industrial IoT and connected spaces, said Naganathan. Brownfield development in IoT-enabled durable goods like appliances and cars allows software created on top of legacy systems to coexist with products and software that have been in production for decades, he said. Combining IoT capabilities with legacy technologies allows a manufacturer to alert users that a system is about to fail and trigger a service call, he said. Greenfield development in IoT -- products created from the ground up for internet connectivity -- is “fundamentally changing user experiences,” he said, giving connected thermostats, smart locks and TVs as examples. IoT is playing a central role in transforming home gateways and set-top boxes that manage broadband traffic for in-home consumption, evolving from supporting proprietary single-function applications and devices to platforms that manage an array of complex services within the home, he noted. That trend is “unleashing new economic activity that is being enhanced by new innovative services in the cloud.” The IoT opens a new world of business models, technologies and services to create “integrated experiences that are intuitive and secure,” said Naganathan. It will be important for companies to forge and nurture long-term IoT relationships “that integrate complex technologies and go-to-market strategies” that are “frictionless experiences” for consumers and businesses, he said.
The FCC’s last open meeting of 2021 will include votes on making emergency alert systems messages more accessible, changes to competitive bidding regulations for E-rate, and revisions to spectrum sharing rules for low-orbit satellite systems, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel blogged. The virtual meeting is Dec. 14 at 10:30 a.m.
Broadcasters want the FCC to distinguish between “next-generation EAS” (emergency alert system) and enhanced alerting through ATSC 3.0, said replies posted Friday in docket 15-94. “Conflating the two platforms threatens to encourage the migration of the rules and requirements that govern EAS (which have accrued from the 1950’s to this proceeding) to ATSC 3.0 emergency messaging,” said the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance and ATSC. The 3.0 “optional, value-added urgent news information service” is called “Advanced Emergency Information” and is a valuable supplement for EAS alerts but isn’t the same thing, NAB said. “Refrain from regulating such an optional ATSC 3.0 content service because it is unrelated to the vital service provided by the EAS system and doing so could hinder innovation.” AWARN and ATSC urged the FCC not to impose alerting regulations on streaming media. NAB reiterated (see 2110200065) that an FCC proposal for persistent EAS alerts isn’t feasible.