WEA Has Been 'Highly Successful,' but Improvements Are Needed, Experts Say
Ten years after the launch of wireless emergency alerts, WEAs have become a critical part of providing warnings to the public, officials said Thursday during an FCBA webinar. Speakers said WEAs have made progress since the false missile alert that created panic in Hawaii in early 2018 (see 1801160054 and 1803160042). Last month, FCC commissioners approved 4-0 an NPRM proposing new rules to make the emergency alert system and WEAs more secure (see 2210270058).
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“WEA is clearly a highly successful program,” said Shellie Blakeney, T-Mobile director-federal regulatory affairs. “It can be regarded as among the most effective tools available in this country that has the ability to deliver to large masses of the population critical information within seconds,” she said. The program is voluntary, but it’s supported by all the national providers and many regional providers, reaching more than 90% of the U.S. population, she said.
“During the past decade” WEA has become “an ever-improving life-saving tool used by emergency agencies nationwide,” said Debra Jordan, FCC Public Safety Bureau chief. During Hurricane Ian, Florida officials used WEA for “tornado, hurricane and flash flood warnings, alongside evacuation and shelter-in-place orders,” she said. In Puerto Rico officials sent “almost three dozen” warnings during Hurricane Fiona, she said.
“One of the advantages of WEA is that alerts are sent to compatible devices in the targeted geographic area without the need for consumers to sign up,” Jordan said: “Emergency managers can ensure alerts are received both quickly and accurately, often within seconds, by those who are potentially in harm’s way.” Since the first WEA was sent, the system has been used more than 70,000 times, she said. The FCC is intent on testing WEAs to make sure they work as expected, she said. The FCC is analyzing the results of September tests (see 2210030042), but “the volume of responses we received … has been extraordinary and we’re happy about that,” she said.
“I don’t think the deployment of WEA, and what has been done in partnership with carriers across the country, could have gone any better than it has,” said Antwane Johnson, director of FEMA’s integrated public alert and warning system (IPAWS). Johnson noted many still rely on emergency alerts from broadcasters during emergencies, though WEAs are able to reach 90% of U.S. households.
“At the moment we’re not hearing that communities are asking for additional technology,” Johnson said. “What we’re hearing from emergency managers is that they need tools and guidance on the use of these alerting systems,” he said. “They need things like message design dashboards … to help them with crafting with effective messages,” he said.
FEMA is focused on a certification program for all the authorities that send alerts, Johnson said. “Certainly we see how important that can be that people be properly trained in the use of these systems so that we don’t have errant messages and things like that go out to communities that continue to erode public confidence in our alert and warning capabilities,” he said. FEMA is also working on a certification program for all software used with IPAWS, he said.
FEMA is also working on “broad overarching guidance” for alerting authorities, Johnson said. Many authorities “are looking for best practices and other things that they can utilize -- how can they establish their governance structure, within their respective areas, and in cooperation with neighboring states of counties,” he said.
“If you’re handling emergency communications during a major event, an emergency alert can make your job easier, and the response more effective, if feature-rich and geotargeted,” said Jeff Cohen, APCO chief counsel. “Enhancing alerts with new technologies and capabilities can make a big difference, with better targeting and more granular information without the risk of over-alerting or leading the public to make more 911 calls seeking clarification,” he said.
Progress has been made over the past 10 years in making alerts more useful, “but there’s certainly much need for improvement,” Cohen said. APCO’s main focus has been on making WEAs more targeted and using them to provide multimedia information, he said. “How many of you have had the experience of receiving an alert on your phone that was about an emergency going on in a distant area?” he asked: “Or maybe you’re heard news reports about public safety agencies deciding not to issue a WEA alert about a wildfire because they weren’t confident in the system.” The technology exists for WEAs to be improved, he said.
AT&T recognized early on there were “limitations and enhancements” that needed to be made, said Brian Daly, AT&T assistant vice president-standards and industry alliances. “One of the challenges in an RF environment is you’re broadcasting to a broad area -- we can’t put a wall around a particular area and expect RF to stay in that area,” he said.
Early WEAs in particular had issues with geotargeting, Daly said. Industry “addressed that problem in WEA 3.0 with device-based geofencing,” he said. As a broadcast service using control channels WEAs don’t “have the broadband to broadcast full multimedia,” he said. “We do have the capability to insert URLs into the message itself,” he said. “It’s certainly a system that is continuously improving,” he said.