Martin Seeks Tighter Targeting of Cellphone Alerts
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has overruled the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee, which drew up rules for emergency warnings to cellphones and other devices, and will propose that carriers have to send alerts to areas smaller than counties. The mandate could scare carriers away from agreeing to send subscribers warnings, wireless industry sources said. Under the WARN Act that set up the committee which drafted the rules, carriers need not send emergency alerts. Martin circulated a proposed order that otherwise would adopt rules proposed by the committee. He’s expected to ask for a vote at the Dec. 18 agenda meeting, but it could come earlier.
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“Networks are not set up… along these smaller areas,” said a wireless industry source. “It is not a new issue. It has been discussed and everyone agreed it wasn’t a realistic requirement.” Carriers can opt not to broadcast warnings and are unlikely to make costly network upgrades, the source said. “If the rules require something that carriers, or a carrier, can’t support, they're not going to be opting in,” the source said.
In September, Martin asked committee members to consider requiring that carriers be able to issue warnings not countywide but more locally (CD Sept 20 p8). Citing Capitol Hill concerns, he called that matter a “critical issue that I'm certainly concerned about.”
Weighing Martin’s proposed change, the committee decided to stick with countywide warnings, at least to start. Brian Daly of AT&T, who heads the committee’s Communications Technology Group, told Martin it may be difficult to target messages to smaller areas. “If you take a map and draw a polygon or a circle it’s challenging to figure out what cellsites are covering that circle or polygon on a real time basis,” he said. “The technology needs to be evaluated to see what can be done in order to get down to those geographic areas.”
The WARN Act requires that the FCC adopt final rules in April for emergency alerts sent to cellphones. Within 120 days of releasing the rules, the Commission must complete a proceeding allowing carriers to transmit warnings. Carriers will have only 30 days to notify the FCC whether they will participate in the program. Conventional wisdom holds that most carriers will agree to broadcast alerts.