Wireless Alert FNPRM, Receiver NOI Expected to Get 4-0 Votes With Few Tweaks
A notice of inquiry on receiver standards and a Further NPRM on wireless emergency alerts are expected to be approved Thursday with only minimal changes from what was circulated by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2203310065). There have been some discussions about both items among the commissioner offices, but only the WEA FNPRM provoked concerns, industry and FCC officials told us. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and FCC staff recommended a few questions to be added to the receiver NOI, which were added to the item, officials said.
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In a filing last week, CTIA reported on a call with an aide to Rosenworcel, but not the other commissioner offices, in which Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann urged the agency to “proceed cautiously” before adopting new rules on reporting and measuring WEA performance (see 2204140046).
Proposals to require providers to track delivery or display of WEAs “do not appear to be compatible with the foundational cell-broadcast technology used to meet the public safety mission of WEA and may undermine the voluntary nature of the WEA program as directed by Congress,” CTIA said. It urged the FCC to: “(1) recognize ongoing efforts to improve WEA effectiveness, (2) seek comment on the technical feasibility of performance measurements, and (3) carefully weigh the costs and benefits of the Commission’s reporting proposals.”
The draft recognizes that WEAs save lives. Currently, 76 providers have voluntarily elected to take part in the alerting program, the draft says: “In the past decade, 619 emergency management agencies across the nation have issued 61,764 WEA alerts.” The FCC notes it sought comment on reporting requirements in 2016 and 2018. “Providers comment that burdensome performance requirements would be inconsistent with the voluntary nature of WEA, and that performance measurement would be difficult because of Participating … Providers’ lack of visibility into WEA’s receipt at mobile devices,” the draft notes. Emergency management and consumer groups supported requirements, it said.
Commissioner aides said they didn’t get calls on the receiver NOI and no ex partes were filed. The draft NOI asks almost 200 questions, exploring an issue that has been before the FCC in some form for 20 years.
“A lot of people are still trying to think through the myriad issues raised by the receiver standard item, most of which obviously are quite technical,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May: “Because all the commission is doing at this point is issuing a wide-ranging NOI, which inevitably, and by design, is not as focused on specific proposals as an NPRM should be, those with an interest in the proceeding see no real need or benefit to lobbying the agency at this point.” Those who are interested “realize that, at this stage of the proceeding, their efforts should be focused on providing helpful information in comments and reply comments and then considering how to formulate their positions if the commission proceeds to issue a rulemaking notice,” he said.
“Folks may not want to show their hands until the comment period begins,” said Digital Progress Institute President Joel Thayer. “I doubt anyone felt the need to quibble about wording, as they might for a high-stakes NPRM or final order,” said Michael Calabrese, director-New America's Wireless Future Program: “We are interested in the issue, but haven’t really had time to focus on it yet.”