T-Mobile filed a supplement to its Aug. 25 response answering FCC questions on its performance during the Aug. 11 nationwide wireless emergency alert test (see 2108260046). The carrier emphasized that system performance was “within normal parameters,” in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-91: “Within seconds, the alert was distributed to millions of cells sites over multiple technologies. This process was completed while separate live WEA alerts were issued and transmitted simultaneously. The system performed as intended and we did not observe any anomalies.”
Funding for next-generation 911 is the “biggest challenge and would make the biggest difference,” said Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth during an FCBA CLE webinar. “It’s not something the FCC can make happen.” Others agreed about the importance of funding. Congress is considering NG-911 money via the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (HR-5376), but the measure's prospects remain unclear.
Some House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee members signaled interest during a Tuesday virtual hearing in beefing up first responders’ communications infrastructure around the National Mall, the Capitol Building and other federal facilities in Washington, in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Other members cited the need for improving foreign language speakers’ access to wireless emergency alerts and other public safety communications platforms, and pressed Federal Emergency Management Agency Director-Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Antwane Johnson on how that entity has implemented fixes to prevent a repeat of the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054). The Tuesday hearing was a follow-up to an October one that highlighted communications issues first responders continue to face 20 years after the Sept. 11 attacks (see 2110070059).
Verizon’s broadcast message center (BMC) performed “as we would have expected, including the duration between the BMC’s receipt of the English and Spanish language versions of the message” from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, during the August wireless emergency alert system test (see 2108260046), the carrier said in a letter to the FCC, posted Thursday in docket 15-91. The time required “reflected the need to map the alert to the large number of sites in Verizon’s nationwide network, to determine the appropriate [mobility management entity] (which directs WEAs to associated cell sites), and to process both the English and Spanish language text versions of the message,” it said: The Public Safety Bureau asked that the information be filed.
Multiple states likely won't have adopted legislation on rollout of 988 services when the suicide prevention hotline goes live nationwide July 16, mental health policy advocates told us. That could result in impeded service for states that haven't set up funding mechanisms for call centers to handle the increased volume of call traffic expected. Some state legislators that faced opposition this year after carriers raised fee concerns hope to pass bills in 2022.
Broadcasters, cable groups and emergency alerting companies resisted FCC suggestions for persistent emergency alert system warnings and changes to alerting codes. “It is simply not feasible to incorporate these changes cost-effectively into the existing, well embedded system,” said NCTA. Comments were due Tuesday in docket 15-94.
Emergency communications have improved since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, including the launch of FirstNet, but problems persist, said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), chair of the House Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Subcommittee, during a virtual hearing Thursday. The Homeland Security Committee panel heard from first responders who warned of funding shortfalls and that many areas are falling further behind as technology advances.
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has been “very aggressive” working with other countries to reach agreements on robocall enforcement, and the Enforcement Bureau is paying more attention to accessibility issues, a virtual FCBA CLE heard Wednesday. Such agreements “come up routinely,” when the agency meets with foreign regulators, said her aide David Strickland. “A lot of these robocalls are coming from overseas.”
The FCC should eliminate local ownership caps for AM stations but keep them for FMs, iHeartMedia asked an aide to Commissioner Nathan Simington on a call Friday, said a filing posted in docket 18-349 Tuesday: “Deregulation of AM ownership would bring increased investment to the AM band,” but reducing FM ownership limits “would lead to a migration of capital, resources, and talent away from AM stations.” IHeart also opposed GeoBroadcast Solutions' proposal to allow geo-targeted FM broadcasts. Changing booster rules to allow the tech would cause “a financial drain on broadcast radio” by “bifurcating FM advertising spends,” said iHeart, also noting concerns about interference affecting the emergency alert system. GBS has countered EAS concerns (see 2109200066).
Tests of FM radio geo-targeting technology show it doesn’t affect emergency alert system performance and that the “transition zones” between targeted areas can avoid affecting listeners, said Covington & Burling in a letter and report posted Monday in FCC docket 20-401. Roberson and Associates did the study on behalf of GeoBroadcast Solutions, which seeks a change to rules on FM boosters. Summer tests at Universal Media Access' KSJO(FM) San Jose showed the system works with analog and HD radio systems, the law firm said. “Listeners in FM transition zones experienced no material change.” Commissioner Geoffrey Starks endorses GBS efforts; NAB and iHeart Media oppose them (see 2108260034).