Puerto Rico sought FCC waiver to test live-code wireless emergency alerts and the emergency alert system. The 30-minute test is planned for Sept. 12 at 11 a.m., the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Bureau (PREMB) said Thursday in docket 15-91. Puerto Rico has been rebuilding communications infrastructure since two storms devastated the territory last year, the bureau said. “As we enter the peak of hurricane season, it is important PREMB be able to test and validate its [Integrated Public Alert & Warning System] origination capabilities and the participants’ ability to disseminate emergency messages to the public.”
FCC Republicans Ajit Pai, Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr have voted together the vast majority of the time. Carr partially dissented once and has been mostly in step with Pai since he became a member a year ago. O’Rielly, a commissioner throughout Pai's chairmanship, has disagreed more, based on our review. O’Rielly has had partial dissents 12 times and a full dissent once.
GCI customers can now receive wireless emergency alerts on mobile devices, the carrier said. GCI launched an alerts app in 2011 and did a test Aug. 15 that confirmed subscribers in WEA service areas can get alerts. “For the past year, GCI has been working to implement network and device updates that will enable Alaska customers to receive enhanced messages directly to their device through the national WEA system,” GCI said Saturday.
The nationwide combined test of the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alert is scheduled for Sept. 20, the FCC Public Safety Bureau said in a reminder public notice Monday in docket 15-94. The test backup date is Oct. 3, the PN said. Monday was the deadline for all EAS test participants to register with the EAS reporting system and make their initial filings for the test. A second filing is due the day of the test, and a third Nov. 5, the PN said.
The FCC is examining some changes in light of the lessons learned during the 2017 hurricane season with its succession of powerful storms, said a Public Safety Bureau report released Friday. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the report falls short. “Let’s not kid ourselves -- releasing this report 85 days into the current hurricane season and as an historic storm gets closer to Hawaii’s shores, is simply too little, too late,” she said. After Katrina, the FCC “established an independent panel that brought to bear a broad background of public safety and industry experiences, including first-hand knowledge of the devastation wrought,” she said. “We didn’t do that here. After Hurricane Sandy, this agency convened a series of field hearings to help inform recommendations and action to improve network resiliency. Again, we didn’t do that here.” The report notes that high cost and severity of last year’s storms. “All told, it was the most expensive hurricane season in United States history, almost doubling the cost of the 2005 hurricane season that included Katrina,” the bureau said. “According to initial estimates, the combined storms caused over $200 billion in damages in the United States and its territories.” Among its recommendations, the report called for “increased engagement” between the FCC and critical infrastructure players. “Cross-sector dependencies greatly affected communications services, which are often highly dependent on electric power, fuel distribution (in the absence of electricity), and transportation at the local level (for access to sites and facilities) and regional level (for transportation of restoration crews and equipment),” the report said. The bureau said the FCC also should encourage backhaul providers to participate in the carriers’ wireless resiliency cooperative framework. The availability of wireless service is sometimes difficult to gauge and the report backed more use of a third-party smartphone app that senses the presence of RF signals in commercial wireless bands. “While initial distribution would be limited to authorized emergency responders deployed to a particular disaster area, the app could ultimately be made available via application stores so that it can be distributed widely,” the bureau said. The report also stressed the importance of over-the-air (OTA) information collection during disasters. Last year, the FCC used “over-the-air technologies such as the National Shared Remote Equipment Network and its High-Frequency Direction-Finding network to collect situational awareness information about emergency communications, including alert system operations,” the report said. This information was then shared with other federal agencies. The bureau “is now considering developing more integrated reporting from the various OTA observation systems which might increase reporting speed and free Roll Call teams for additional scans, analysis and reporting.” The FCC uses Roll Call equipment to examine the spectrum and identify disaster-related communications outages.
The FCC, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Hawaii broadcasters and carriers were gearing up Thursday for landfall of Category 4 Hurricane Lane, we found. Though the storm isn’t expected to cause the same level of damage as Maria and Irma did last year to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, broadcasters and emergency alert officials are making extensive preparations, said Hawaii Association of Broadcasters President Chris Leonard in an interview. “We don’t take any of these things lightly.” Lane "will bring life threatening conditions across Hawaii through Saturday with damaging winds, dangerous surf, coastal storm surge and INTENSE FLOODING RAINS,” tweeted the National Weather Service.
More-specific criteria for determining when emergency alert system obligations come into play for certain fixed satellite service licensees take effect Sept. 24, says an FCC notice for Thursday's Federal Register. Those criteria are part of partial approval in July of a 2005 petition for reconsideration by satellite operators (see 1807250005).
Comments are due Sept. 10 on a Further NPRM (see 1807160050) on a reporting system for false emergency alerts, wireless alerts sent to mobile phones, and amendments to state emergency alert system plans, said the Federal Register. Replies are due Oct. 9.
The FCC granted two waivers to allow wireless emergency alert (WEA) tests in Denver and Sonoma County, California. The Public Safety Bureau granted one Tuesday to the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department. The Sept. 12 test is a combined live emergency alert system and WEA test. “The purpose of the test is to ensure that emergency management officials in Sonoma County have a clear understanding of how alerts would perform in their varied topography,” the bureau said. The bureau Monday granted a similar waiver to the Denver Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, which sought the green light for a Sept. 5 WEA test (see 1807270013).
Changes creating the FCC online reporting system for emergency alerts take effect Sept. 4, says a Federal Register notice set for Thursday. The reporting system replaces paper filing and is intended to make state EAS plans more uniform and more accessible to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (see 1804100043).