The FCC greenlit a wireless emergency alert and emergency alert system test in Routt County, Colorado. The Public Safety Bureau Thursday granted a limited waiver in dockets 15-91 and 15-94 allowing broadcasters and mobile providers participate in the combined test scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. MDT. It conditioned the waiver on enough public outreach.
Most cellphones appeared to get wireless emergency alert test messages and most broadcasters appeared to transmit emergency alert system messages, but a number did not, based on a survey of our operations, some others, social media and events we attended during the simulation. On Twitter, #PresidentialAlert trended after the first nationwide test of the WEA system Wednesday. Early results of the fourth nationwide test of the broadcast EAS went largely as expected and mirrored past tests, said EAS officials and broadcasters. The WEA test started at 2:18 p.m. and lasted for 30 minutes, while the EAS test began at 2:20 p.m.
Wednesday’s wireless emergency alert test “will not adversely affect your service or device,” Verizon General Counsel Craig Silliman said Tuesday. Silliman posted information about the test due to "controversy on social media” about the alert (see 1809210032). The alerts are “really critical, lifesaving information” that citizens should want to receive, a Federal Emergency Management Agency official said Tuesday on a media call with FCC and FEMA officials who spoke on background, not allowing their names to be used. A journalist and two small-business owners in New York City sued (in Pacer) the government last week at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming the presidential alerts violate First and Fourth Amendment rights to be free from government-compelled listening and warrantless trespass into cellular devices. People mightn't get the alert if their device is configured incorrectly or if they are on a phone call or have an active data session ongoing throughout the 30-minute window, the official said. The wireless industry is working on standards to address those issues, said another FEMA official. The first nationwide WEA test will start at 2:18 p.m. EDT and last 30 minutes, and the fourth nationwide emergency alert system exercise starts at 2:20 p.m., the agencies said. The WEA message will carry the header “Presidential Alert” and read, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” The EAS simulation will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Emergency Alert System. This system was developed by broadcast and cable operators in voluntary cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Communication Commission, and local authorities to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. If this had been an actual emergency an official message would have followed the tone alert you heard at the start of this message. A similar wireless emergency alert test message has been sent to all cell phones in the nation. Some cell phones will receive the message. Others will not. No action is required.” The FCC looks forward to more dialogue and lesson sharing with stakeholders after the test, Public Safety Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes blogged Tuesday. The agency plans to engage with FEMA and wireless providers, and welcomes public feedback, she said. D.C. text alert subscribers received a notice about the WEA and EAS tests Tuesday. The test was previously postponed due to response efforts to Hurricane Florence.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials expect the same kinds of problems to be uncovered during the first national test of the wireless emergency alert system as during a Washington-area test in April, they told reporters Friday. Preliminary results likely won’t be released immediately, an FCC official said. The test was delayed until Oct. 3 because of Hurricane Florence (see 1809170035). The April test saw many subscribers not getting the alerts (see 1804050053). Industry observers expect similar glitches Oct. 3. “The test will assess the operation readiness of the infrastructure,” a FEMA official said: “We expect there to be fairly similar results” to the April test. Government officials spoke on a conference call with reporters on the condition they not be identified. “Almost all [wireless] phones across the country” will receive the warnings, “but we know there are some anomalies in the network,” a FEMA official said. More than 70 percent of the cellphones will likely “receive and display” the message, the official said. The FCC will work closely with FEMA and industry to assess the test, a commission official said. FEMA officials noted 2016's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act requires the system be tested every three years. WEAs can warn of severe weather, active shooters and Amber alerts. WEAs fall into three categories -- warnings of imminent threats from severe weather to active shooters, amber alerts for missing children and the presidential-level alert, a FEMA official said. The national presidential-level alerts are only issued during extreme emergencies, such as a declaration of war or if there were coordinated terrorist attacks in major cities, the FEMA official said. Those concerned about the test continue tweeting, now using a new hashtag: #GoDark103. “What are you solving by participating in #GoDark920 or #GoDark103?” @realchrishanken tweeted Friday. “You don’t like Trump. I get it. I don’t like him either. But these presidential alerts have been around for longer.”
Hurricane Florence is affecting communications primarily in North Carolina, but South Carolina also is feeling the effects, said Monday’s FCC disaster information reporting system report. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday that South Carolina is eligible for federal disaster funds. The FCC report shows 187, 885 cable and wireline subscribers out of service in North Carolina, up from 164,892 in Sunday’s report. South Carolina outages are down to 5,073, compared with 5,883 from Sunday. Six percent of cellsites in the storm-affected area are out of service, but the affected sites are concentrated in North Carolina, the report said. Onslow County, on North Carolina’s coast, has more than 50 percent of cellsites down, the report said. Three public safety answering points in North Carolina are having their 911 calls rerouted to other PSAPs, the report said. The report lists five TV stations out of service, all in North Carolina. Twenty-five FM stations and three AM stations are listed as out, also concentrated in North Carolina. Three radio groups are working together to provide emergency information in Spanish in South Carolina communities affected by the storm, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the League of United Latin American Citizens. Cumulus Media, Spanish Broadcasting System and Dick Broadcasting responded to a request from MMTC and LULAC for emergency broadcasts targeted at Spanish speakers affected by the storm. SBS is providing the Spanish-language emergency information for Cumulus and Dick to broadcast, the release said. “The 22,000 Hispanic residents of the Myrtle Beach radio market and 21,000 Hispanic residents of the Hilton Head radio market are receiving life-saving information.” Frontier Communications has resumed full operations in its service areas with repair and customer contact employees returning to work in South Carolina, and didn’t cease providing repair and installation service to North Carolina, said release Monday. Charter Communications brought in additional supplies before the storm and opened more than 5,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in affected areas, it blogged Saturday. : We have approximately 14,000 employees and three million subscribers in the parts of North and South Carolina that are in the path of Hurricane Florence." Florence postponed Thursday's emergency alerting test (see 1809170035).
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with the FCC, Monday delayed a nationwide test of the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alert system until Oct. 3. The test was scheduled for Thursday but postponement was expected (see 1809140040) because of Hurricane Florence (see 1809170046) related problems. The WEA test is expected to get the most attention because this is the first time that system will be tested nationwide.
The FCC is considering delaying Thursday's first national test of wireless emergency alerts, followed by an emergency alert system test, because of Hurricane Florence, wireless industry officials said Friday as the storm was hitting. The agency granted some telecom leeway during the storm, and also released its first outage report.
The FCC continues preparing for Hurricane Florence in coordination with state and federal partners, Chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday. It activated the disaster information reporting system, with reports requested from some counties in Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, said a public notice. “Staff have already been deployed to survey the radiofrequency spectrum across critical areas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, and our Operations Center is open 24 hours a day,” Pai said. “Our staff has also reached out to broadcast associations, wireless carriers, and other telecom companies in the areas expected to be hit by Hurricane Florence. We will closely monitor communications outages data in the coming days and work to support restoration and recovery.” Pai urged people in affected areas to charge devices and sign up for emergency alerts. Carriers announced preparations this week (see 1809110046). Some state commissions also released alerts, with North Carolina and South Carolina agencies announcing closures. The FCC Public Safety Bureau should ensure emergency information in Spanish is available in four radio markets in the path of Florence that lack sufficient Spanish-language radio stations, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the League of United Latin American Citizens in a letter Wednesday. “Intervention is necessary because it does not appear that the region’s broadcasters have [emergency alert system] plans that address the urgent needs of speakers of Spanish." Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Hilton Head, South Carolina, have Hispanic populations of more than 10 percent, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is 5.8 percent Hispanic, the groups said. The Greenville-New Bern-Jacksonville, North Carolina, radio market is 8.5 percent Hispanic, a population of more than 59,000 people, the letter said. “We ask that lifesaving information be broadcast in the referenced markets” at periodic intervals throughout the day “by at least one station in each market that survives the hurricane,” they said.
The FCC doesn’t need to impose additional reporting requirements on emergency alert system participants to combat false alerts, said NAB, CTIA, NCTA and the American Cable Association in docket 15-94. A few local governments and public TV interests disagreed.
The Public Safety Bureau approved limited waiver of emergency alert system and wireless emergency alert rules to let broadcasters and carriers take part in a test by the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Bureau. PREMB's simulation is scheduled for Wednesday, with a backup of Thursday. New rules allowing such joint tests kick in May 1. The exercise will "help educate and prepare the public and will help the PREMB to determine the readiness and effectiveness of Puerto Rico’s public warning system, plans, and infrastructure as it prepares for the peak of the 2018 hurricane season,” the FCC bureau said. “Given the disasters suffered by Puerto Rico during last year’s hurricanes and in preparation for this year’s peak hurricane season, we find waiver relief is warranted ... the proposed test would provide alert initiators and emergency managers information of immediate value to ongoing restoration and emergency preparedness efforts.”