FCC Cautioned by Wireless Industry Stakeholders Against Proposed WEA System Reforms
FCC Cautioned by Wireless Industry Stakeholders Against Proposed WEA System Reforms
August 24, 2023
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Despite recent proposed reforms to the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), several wireless industry stakeholders are cautioning the FCC about enacting these changes that could complicate the system due to several practical and technical challenges.
The WEA system is a public safety system that allows customers who own compatible mobile devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area, including national alerts issued by the U.S. President or the Administrator of FEMA, alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life, amber alerts about missing children, and alerts for recommendations for saving lives and property.
The FCC’s proposed reforms to the WEA system included:
Allowing thumbnail-sized images to be included in WEA messages.
Requiring wireless providers to ensure mobile devices can translate alerts into the 13 most spoken languages in the United States, outside of English.
Establishing minimum performance requirements for WEA reliability, accuracy, and speed.
Accommodating sign language for individuals with hearing disabilities.
Supporting text-to-speech functionality for individuals with vision disabilities.
Several wireless industry stakeholders, including the New York State’s Public Service Commission, commented that while the intentions of these reforms are good, they would inevitably face complicated implantation hurdles.
“Embedded links should be used to immediately address the consumer’s needs for multilingual support,” explained the CTIA. “This would allow for additional language support, including sign language, while not changing the underlying system architecture.”
Verizon also told the FCC it should take a targeted approach that is both user-focused and technically feasible when it comes to enhancing the WEA system.
Another area of focus for wireless stakeholders was the idea of requiring certain multimedia content. For example, T-Mobile warned it “should not be included in the WEA broadcast channel due to capacity and performance issues,” and that the FCC should “instead should allow alert originators to provide this content via embedded links.”