The FCC released draft items for commissioners' July 12 meeting (see 1806200058), including an NPRM on C-Band spectrum at 3.7-4.2 GHz. Also on the tentative agenda for the meeting are drafts on wireless emergency alerts (WEA) and the emergency alert system (EAS), changes to cellular, children's TV programming (see 1806210021), nationwide number portability and enforcement proceeding rules for complaints.
The FCC July 12 agenda will tackle C-band spectrum for 5G, an NPRM on children’s TV rules as expected (see 1806180055), and false emergency alerts, but not the national TV ownership cap, said industry attorneys and Chairman Ajit Pai's blog. Though the FCC was seen last week as aiming to take on the cap in July (see 1806140055), the agency is now seen as shooting for the August commissioners’ meeting. “It’s imperative that we remain at the front of the pack,” for 5G, Pai said. The July meeting also will include proceedings on nationwide number portability, 800 MHz spectrum and handling of formal complaints, he wrote.
PBS and America's Public Television Stations support improvements to the wireless emergency alert system that would allow delivery of multimedia content, but are concerned about increases to bandwidth requirements, they replied at the FCC in docket 15-91. Since public TV stations are using their spectrum to aid in public safety communications, they “must carefully guard bandwidth to ensure that these vital services remain available to communities and first responders,” APTS and PBS said. Multimedia content should be incorporated into WEA messages to “improve life-saving capability,” the National Weather Service said. Digital Broadcasting Technologies rejected arguments from CTIA (see 1806120043) that adding multimedia content would endanger the text portion of WEA alerts. Such alerts can be fully delivered using DBT's technology even if the packets in the messages are received out of order, DBT said. “The packets in DBT’s messages do not have to be received in sequential order, nor do they have to be contiguous.”
The FCC shouldn’t rush a requirement that carriers be able to include multimedia in wireless emergency alerts, CTIA and T-Mobile said in replies on a Public Safety Bureau record refresh (see 1805290059 and 1805300010). “The record suggests that alert originators are not consistently or widely using embedded references to expand the capabilities of WEA to support multimedia content within the intended design and purpose of WEA,” CTIA said in docket 15-91. “The record demonstrates the significant technical and operational challenges of directly supporting multimedia content within WEA messages that would require fundamentally restructuring the WEA system.” Though other WEA features “may ultimately prove beneficial and viable, further study is required to evaluate the impact of such changes to the existing WEA infrastructure and ensure that good intentions do not jeopardize the stability of this valuable alerting tool,” T-Mobile said.
The Public Safety Bureau approved limited waiver of FCC emergency alert system and wireless emergency alert rules to let carriers to participate in a test by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. MSHP's exercise will be a “combined live EAS and end-to-end WEA test” on July 17, with a backup date of July 19, the bureau said. A May letter said “the record of success of previous WEA alerts sent by the state has been sufficiently inconsistent that MSHP believes that, given recent events across the nation, ‘it is imperative the MSHP test its ability to send WEA alerts … and expose the public to the type of messages they may receive during times of crisis,’” the order said. “We are persuaded by the MSHP Letter that the proposed test of the EAS and WEA will help educate the public, and ensure that MSHP personnel are sufficiently well trained in how to use the EAS and WEA.”
CTIA warned the FCC on potential technical concerns with requiring carriers to transmit multimedia files in wireless emergency alerts, responding to a Public Safety Bureau notice to update the record (see 1803280029 and 1805290059). The commission should "recognize the significant technical and operational limitations -- both with wireless networks and WEA-capable devices -- that would be very challenging to overcome,” said comments in docket 15-91. CTIA noted the FCC now requires carriers to support the transmission of embedded URLs and phone numbers in alerts: “The WEA system was intentionally designed to transmit only very small amounts of text data to ensure the timely delivery of WEA messages.” Even with successful tests January and April in the National Capital Region (see 1804050053), WEA requires multimedia enhancements, commented the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency. “While both of these tests demonstrated our ability to provide key information to Washington, DC's residents, commuters, and guests, our WEA messaging was limited by the technical constraints of the WEA system.” Support for images would “provide instant recognition and speak a universal language,” while making WEA more accessible to people with disabilities, it said. Other commenters also asked the FCC to move forward. Despite recent enhancements, “significant gaps remain between what today’s technology can offer and what the WEA System supports,” said New York City’s Emergency Management Department. “Chief among these gaps is the inability to incorporate multimedia (e.g., images, maps, infographics, etc.) into WEA messages. The need for this capability within the WEA System has been thoroughly documented in the public record.” The Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management said the lack of multimedia capability made WEAs less effective during recent wildfires and flooding in California. Multimedia WEA messages “would be of tremendous benefit to the deaf and hard of hearing,” said groups representing that community, led by Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. “While multimedia capabilities provide significant benefit to all recipients, they offer special and unique benefits to the deaf and hard of hearing population many of whom rely on visual information for emergency and nonemergency information.” Other industry commenters share CTIA’s concerns. ATIS said it remains “concerned with the congestion-related impacts” of URLs now required by the FCC. Industry needs time to see how including embedded URLs work, the group said. “The use of URLs with appropriate best practices (e.g. well-designed website links) is the only effective means of providing multimedia in WEA today,” ATIS said. AT&T raised technological concerns. “The arrival of 5G will not alter the WEA technology roadmap -- cell broadcast is and will remain the primary way to send WEA messages,” AT&T said. “Cell broadcast technology, which is optimized for text messages, will be extremely challenged to support multimedia messages -- even smaller files like static photos, much less video files.” Proposals have emerged that images be converted to binary data and sent over multiple cell broadcast messages, the carrier said. “This would require significant standards development, for both the network and handsets, and would require new handsets, introducing backwards compatibility and roaming challenges.”
The National Weather Service asked the FCC to require inclusion of multimedia content in wireless emergency alerts, joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which made a similar request last week (see 1805240035). FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is coming under increasing pressure to address multimedia content, but wireless and public safety officials said Pai doesn't appear to have decided how to proceed. Comments were due last week on a Public Safety Bureau notice to update the record (see 1803280029) on the feasibility of carriers including multimedia content in WEAs.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Harris County, Texas, said the FCC should mandate that carriers be able to transmit multimedia content in wireless emergency alerts. Comments are due Tuesday on a Public Safety Bureau notice seeking to update the record (see 1803280029) on feasibility of carriers including multimedia content in WEAs, and early filings are starting to appear in docket 15-91. “We must continue to look at ways to improve the WEA system to create a strong and adaptable tool,” Harris County said. “Pictures provide instant recognition and speak a universal language. Most importantly, they enable rapid response from every potential witness who could save countless lives through fast action. With the network upgrades to 5G, capacity for multimedia messages will be even greater, and we would be remiss not to advocate for multimedia capabilities for WEA to be in place as this upgrade occurs.” FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Office also backed the change in alerting rules. It's already “technically feasible” to include multimedia in alerts and the cost would be minimal to public safety, FEMA said. “Forthcoming improvements to provide targeted messaging, increase character count, provide a Spanish-language function, and test the system will increase WEA’s utility to local authorities,” said the Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization serving the Portland, Oregon, area. “However, additional multimedia enhancements are still needed to ensure emergency warnings are correctly understood by the public -- specifically the ability to send an image in a WEA message and provide alerts in languages other than English and Spanish.”
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and the Public Safety Bureau scheduled a June 21 webinar on wireless emergency alerts and the emergency alert system, said a public notice Wednesday. The webinar will focus on how the systems work, “who is eligible to initiate alerts, and the targeting of messages to particular geographic areas,” the PN said. “The webinar will help ensure state and local governments are ready and able to utilize these alerting systems when they are needed” and allow participants to ask questions of staff, the PN said.
Supporting a Minnesota wireless emergency alert (WEA) test planned June 18, the FCC Public Safety Bureau granted a limited waiver allowing participation by emergency alert system (EAS) entities and commercial mobile service providers. The test is a combined live EAS and end-to-end WEA test and will run 6:30-7 p.m. CDT, with a backup date of June 19, the bureau said in a Friday order. The proposed test "will help ensure that [Minnesota's] personnel is sufficiently well trained in how to use the EAS and WEA so that they can initiate an actual alert effectively when necessary." Testing EAS and WEA together "is a likely reflection of what would occur in an actual emergency," it said. The bureau conditioned the waiver on the state providing sufficient outreach so the test doesn't confuse emergency personnel or the public.