RSSDevelopment begins on US emergency text message system
By Tim Conneally | Published April 10, 2008, 12:41 PM
The FCC has begun the process of establishing a nationwide emergency SMS alert system, laying down the foundations yesterday of technical standards that participating cell phone carriers must observe.
While participation is purely voluntary, AT&T, Verizon, Alltel, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile have reportedly all contributed favorably to discussions toward the formation of a system similar to the US' current Emergency Alert System for broadcasters, though which would relay national emergency warnings to cell phone users.
Submitted proposals from these carriers must comply with the 2006 WARN (Warning, Alert and Response Network) Act, which calls for "relevant technical standards, protocols, procedures and technical requirements" to be laid down that could enable participating commercial mobile service providers to transmit emergency alerts.
These discussions helped establish the method in which emergency messages will be relayed when the system is in place sometime around 2010. First responders send alerts to a federal agency (which agency has not yet been determined) which then relays the alert to the wireless carriers for propagation. The messages thus far have been determined to be in the English language with a maximum of 90 characters. A consensus on this system was reached after about ten months of deliberation.
According to a statement by Alltel, "In an emergency situation it is imperative that wireless service providers are able to rely on a single source...and government officials are more appropriately trained in authenticating and constructing messages."
DataFM and NAB voiced concerns over the proposed structure, as it creates a Blackberry-esque single point of failure. The FCC disagreed with this concern, expecting a "reliable and redundant" implementation of Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) aggregators/gateways.
The system will be comparable to campus security systems with early warning text message services that are becoming more common in American colleges. Alerts will be broadcast along a single pathway to all users in affected areas. The messages will concern presidential national emergency alerts (could be handled by DHS/FEMA), imminent threat alerts (which include weather emergency alerts that could come from NOAA), and child abduction emergencies/AMBER alerts.
Though the plan is supposed to take effect in two years, Verizon chief technology officer Tony Melone told USA Today that most cell phones won't be compatible with these types of messages for five years.
Comissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein said in a statement, "The effectiveness of this emergency alert system rests on the good-faith of all participating entities and I expect this will go a long way in ensuring mobile service providers elect to provide these emergency alerts."
I love the way the one for broadcast TV works
here: every once in while my show gets beeped
over to tell me that a TV station some 500 miles
away is doing its mandatory test.
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|Just another reason not to have a cell phone. I don't need any government "alerts" about the weather, or the terrorists, or some kid gone off with the wrong parent.
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|I am already planning to have the text messaging support on my cell turn off in the next week or so when I get a chance to stop by my cell provider's office.
I have never even used the feature on my phone, but have had 4 gold scam spam text messages in the past week or so.
I guess if the government tries to send me an emergency text message I'll just have to miss it.
I never understood the draw to send text using a constrictive interface over a device invented for live voice conversation anyhow.
Maybe I am just getting too old to be cool...
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|We already use a system like that here in San Francisco, which isn't too bad. Occasionally it's a pain (Do I really care about a coastal flooding watch?), but when we had some heavy storms this past winter, it was nice to know be kept up to date.
In addition to the weather warning system, there's also an 'emergency' system for stuff like attacks, disasters, and the like. No idea how that one works, and hopefully I never will ^_^
It does come at a cost to those who opt in, but as the years go by that will matter less and less. Anyone with a phone who's younger than 30 probably already has a huge bundle of texts on their plan, and an extra two or three texts a month won't matter. Heck, I doubt a national system would broadcast even that many. How many times do you get warnings over the TV, anyways? If you only get five or six (if that) a year, who cares if you pay 15 cents a piece for them?
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|Sweet, government spam. I don't want to see any severe thunderstorm warnings or amber alerts or any crap like that. Just snow emergencies so I know to move my car so I don't get ticketed for not moving it off the street so they can salt/plow. I guess it would be useful during an air raid/tornado too.
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|These better be free, because I'm not paying 15c a txt message for some alerts that would be also going out over tv and radio.
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|I would hope they are but I thought I heard no the news last night that it was going to be an add-on to a plan. I would hope not, because this is an important service, to important to charge for. If they do charge I know alot of people will opt-out which would be a shame. I hope I heard wrong (I was on a phone call at the time so only half listening).
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|Come on now... I would be appalled if they had spent all that tax money on a system that cannot be monetized.
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|I beleive that the approach is a goodone, However this will be costly and unfair to some consumers that do not have Mobile Phones, there is still a large number of Americans with out a Mobile Phone ( more than 100 million )
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|They can always upgrade, nothing is stopping them from joining the 21st century. But broadcasting over the radio or tv not everyone has them. My grandma won't buy either, nor does she have a phone. we have to write her letters. Which isn't my forte so you can imagine we don't speak much.
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