Initial results for the 2019 nationwide emergency alert system test show more participants filing their test results than in the 2018 test but a decrease in the percentage who received the test message, based on a comparison of public notices issued by the FCC Public Safety Bureau. Unlike the 2018 initial results PN, the 2019 document didn’t include a comparison with data from past tests. The two tests were conducted under different parameters, with the 2019 test using only the legacy EAS broadcast daisy chain system while the 2018 test involved the legacy system, the integrated public alert warning system, and wireless emergency alerts. Some 19,200 EAS participants filed results for the 2018 test, while 19,607 did so in 2019. Past PNs show 95.5 percent of test participants received the alert in 2018, 95.8 percent in 2017, and 84.3 percent in 2019. “One filer who submitted data on a timely basis on behalf of a significant number of EAS Participants made an obvious clerical error, which we have confirmed with the filer and corrected,” said a footnote now. The 2019 PN shows that 81.5 percent of participants retransmitted the alert, down from 91.8 percent in 2018. With the Federal Emergency Management Agency, "the Bureau will continue to analyze the results of the 2019 nationwide EAS test and release more detailed findings when available,” the PN said.
The California Public Utilities Commission will weigh more disaster relief rules for communications providers in response to problems during recent public safety power shutoffs (PSPS), CPUC President Marybel Batjer said at a Wednesday hearing livestreamed from San Francisco. Many local officials and telco customers couldn’t attend the hearing due to another power shutoff Wednesday, the sixth in two months, she said. Commissioner Cliff Rechtschaffen dismissed carriers’ arguments they couldn’t anticipate extended power shutoffs.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau approved a waiver for Napa County, California, to run a test of the wireless emergency alert system working with participating carriers. The Napa County Office of Emergency Services requested the waiver for a test to start at 1 p.m. PST on Dec. 6. OES said in its request that “over the past two years, California has been devastated by wildfires and floods, which have led to new state alert and warning mandates and public concern about emergency warnings,” said a Tuesday order in docket 15-91: The county and “Bay Area partners are updating their mass notification plans and policies.” The backup test date is Dec. 11.
New Jersey is in "urgent need" of an upgrade or replacement to its emergency alert system software, said a New Jersey Broadcasters Association newsletter Thursday. The current system needs replacement because of "advanced age and functional obsolescence," said NJBA, which raised the issue in August (see 1908220048). "An immediate threat to emergency communications remains a very distinct possibility after January 1st and the State needs to address this problem ASAP!" NJBA is "fervently requesting" a new system funded through grants authorized after Hurricane Sandy through New Jersey state agencies, the governor's office, the state emergency communications committee, and the FCC.
House and Senate Commerce committee efforts to advance Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization legislation appeared to be going in different directions Wednesday. Senate Commerce Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., pulled his STELA bill, the Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act (S-2789), from a committee markup. Several lobbyists cited a revolt by some Democratic and Republican members as the reason for the postponement. House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., appeared on the verge of advancing his renewal measure, the Television Viewer Protection Act (HR-5035), during a planned Thursday markup. STELA is currently set to expire Dec. 31.
Different levels of government should improve coordination in emergencies and reduce barriers to telemedicine, the FCC Intergovernmental Advisory Committee reported, released Thursday. IAC covers delivering multilingual emergency alerts to people who speak in different languages or have communication disabilities, improving communications among state, local, tribal and territorial government on emergency alerting system procedures, enhancing coordination for disaster resiliency efforts, and reducing regulatory barriers to telemedicine. There are “valuable insights and recommendations that will help inform the work of the FCC and that of our state, local, Tribal, and territorial government partners,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The FCC should develop “non-language-oriented” alerts based on symbols and colors to address the current paucity of multilingual emergency alerts and alerts intended for those with disabilities, said the multilingual alerting report. “Use of universal colors, symbols and sounds takes the language barrier out of the equation.” IAC suggested that state emergency communication committee alerting plans include reaching non-English speakers and the disabled. To prevent and minimize the repercussions of incidents such as the January 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii, SECCs should require state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) governments to regularly hold annual meetings of their emergency managers, said another report. The FCC should consider formalizing requirements that states document such meetings, the report said. Direct state EAS plans to involve social media protocols that include the specific SLTT entities that will issue messages, and the contents of such messages, it said. The FCC should update rules to require SECCs adopt recommendations from the agency’s report on the Hawaii incident to deal with and prevent false alerts, the document recommended. Those include changes to software to separate tests from real alerts, redundant lines of communication, and protocols for handling false alerts. Best practice “is to actually plan and coordinate with each other on a regular basis during ... normal, non-emergency, working conditions,” the disaster resiliency report said: Locate critical communications facilities and access roads and make recovery crews aware of critical lines to avoid damage. Wireless providers should set up roaming agreements in advance of disasters, and more work is needed to ensure public safety communications interoperability, it said. Barriers to telemedicine include limited technical support in rural hospitals, physician concerns over reimbursement, and complexities of credentialing and privileging for telecare providers, the IAC reported.
The FCC is again under pressure to mandate backup power for cellsites, after widespread outages during California wildfires. The issue isn’t new, and questions are growing. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel told us now is time to act.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau will allow emergency alert system participants unable to update certificate information for their EAS devices for the Integrated Public Alert Warning System by the Friday expiration to continue operating their equipment through Jan. 7 without additional FCC authority, said a public notice Tuesday. Though a replacement certificate was issued Oct. 28, the Federal Emergency Management Agency "and EAS Participants are concerned that this may not provide sufficient time to update all EAS devices,” the PN said. EAS participants that can’t complete installation of the new certificate by Jan. 7 must request additional time, the PN said. The certificate issue doesn’t affect reception of alert messages using the legacy, daisy chain system, the PN said.
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wants the FCC to "reckon with how rolling back regulations and not requiring back up power have made it harder" to communicate in natural disasters such as the recent California wildfires. She tweeted Friday that "phones are not working. It's time for the FCC to start investigating."
T-Mobile asked for waiver of FCC wireless emergency alert rules so it can do testing. A new geo-targeting requirement for WEA messages becomes effective Nov. 30, T-Mobile said in docket 15-91, posted Friday. “T-Mobile wishes to engage in live testing of network and device geo-targeting capabilities prior to the … deadline.”