WASHINGTON-A group has urged homeland security officials to require cellular carriers to take advantage of embedded cell-broadcast capability in mobile phones so U.S. citizens can receive wireless alerts during emergencies.
“A pilot or trial of a public warning system that is based on the use of a common multi-cast SMS [short message service] delivery system is contrary to the industry’s own standards, the UN [United Nations] ITU [International Telecommunication Union], and will fail under true emergency conditions such as the London attacks when the wireless networks were overloaded,” said John Richter of the International Cellular Emergency Alert Systems Association in a letter to Michael Brown, undersecretary for homeland security emergency preparedness and response, and Reynold Hoover, director of the office of national security at DHS.
Richter said only broadcast messaging functionality remains operational under emergency congestion conditions.
“To use public monies to fund any program that embraces technology that is documented to be inappropriate must be considered fraudulent,” said Richter.
“The association strongly encourages the DHS to clearly state that it is a matter of policy that U.S. carrier networks must be willing to insure the operation and availability of their broadcast functionality for public safety under the government’s rights of eminent domain over the spectrum.”
DHS, cell-phone carriers and public TV stations are trying to develop a national digital platform for emergency alert distribution by mobile-phone carriers, Internet service providers and others. The trial, however, does not address what technology cell-phone carriers might embrace to deliver warnings to subscribers.
Meantime, the Federal Communications Commission is considering changes to the nation’s emergency alert system, which is highly dependent on voluntary compliance by broadcasters and cable TV operators.
