Nationwide Cell Alerting Moves Foward

There's a flurry of activity in the effort to expand the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to include cellular phone broadcast alerts. A recent forum, an upcoming deadline for Request for Information (RFI) responses, and a pronouncement by one of the program officials that specifications could be ready in October are all go-forward signs.

Perhaps most telling about what the feds are thinking now about the Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) program is the RFI (which can be viewed here). In the Request for Information due August 14th, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking for:

• information on capability gaps in initial deployment plans
• potential future enhancements because of technology advancements
• possible resources for research and development and test facilities

Beyond the RFI, a forum was recently held where interested parties could get updates from DHS Directorate of Science and Technology (S&T) officials in charge of the initial phase of the program. Program Director Denis Gusty said he hopes specifications will be ready in October for the "switch" that will be necessary to connect all of the pieces.

This is no easy task, particularly as S&T gets deeper and deeper into details. Carriers can be quite persnickety about connecting into someone else's equipment (particularly to offer a free service). And, hopefully, FEMA which has responsibility for the aggregation switch, will be quite persnickety about who hooks into the system and how they do it.

Once the switch design is public, carriers will have 28 months to put equipment in place to receive CMAS messages.

Technology aside, there are still significant outstanding questions. For example, exactly what can CMAS alerts be used for? Presumably, basically the same criteria would apply as for EAS alerts. Since the alerts could be considered less intrusive than interrupting radio and television broadcasts, could they be used for more purposes than EAS? (At least for now, the CMAS alerts would use text, not voice.) And, if so, who would have the authority to activate?

Another question will center around participation. The carriers are generally saying they'll participate. (Avoiding the wrath of the Federal Communciations Commission makes carrier participation compelling.) Then, will the public participate? The current plan would make the alerting capability available on new cell phones once CMAS is launched. Customers would have to opt-out to avoid receiving CMAS notifications.

And, here's one more significant question: how do emergency management professionals and industry make their opinions known?

Despite the outstanding questions, CMAS momentum can be a significant development in the world of alerting. Stay tuned!

All the best,

Rick