FCC Makes Wireless Carriers Show Emergency Messages Will Reach Subscribers
The FCC will not require wireless carriers to test a new emergency alert system for cellphones by sending warnings to all subscribers who otherwise would get alerts, said an order released late Tuesday. But the FCC does expect carriers to be able to test commercial mobile service alert system (CMAS) messages’ ability to reach their targets, it said. The FCC approved its latest order and rulemaking implementing wireless handset alerting rules developed by the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee.
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Testing to end users remains a thorny issue. Unless the FCC develops a plan for limited public testing “the first time we use the system for a real emergency it'll be a gigantic social and technological experiment,” Art Botterell, manager of the Community Warning System with the Contra Costa County, Calif., Sheriff’s Office, and a member of the advisory committee, told us last month.
Carriers and gear makers recommended that testing not include sending messages to subscribers, the FCC said in the order. “According to Nokia, end-user testing would cause unnecessary network use and would result in customer confusion,” the FCC said. It also cited Interstate Wireless and Cellcast endorsements of end-user testing. The companies recommended “a separate rulemaking for testing, and believes that testing to the end-user is appropriate.”
The FCC will require monthly tests to the provider gateway and within the carrier’s system, it said. Carriers will have some responsibility to show that warnings will reach subscribers. “We will not require that [commercial mobile service] providers make available mobile devices that support reception of the required monthly test,” the order said. “We do, however, allow CMS providers to choose to do so. However, CMS providers that choose not to make the required monthly test available to subscribers must find alternate methods of ensuring that subscriber handsets will be able to receive CMAS alert messages.”
The FCC rejected some recommendations CTIA made in May on testing requirements, specifically proposals for a certain day and time for required monthly tests and that the FCC define the exact parameters and content of the test and expiration time. “Because the CMAS must still undergo significant development and the Federal Alert Aggregator and Gateway have just recently been identified, we believe it would be premature to adopt such specific testing requirements at this time,” the commission said.
“In adopting these rules today, we take another significant step towards implementing one of our highest priorities -- to ensure that all Americans have the capability to receive timely and accurate alerts, warnings and critical information regarding disasters and other emergencies,” the FCC said in the order. “As we continue to learn from previous disasters such as the recent tornados that raged through our Midwestern and southern states, it is essential to enable Americans to take appropriate action to protect their families and themselves from loss of life or serious injury.”