WASHINGTON-James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said last week Congress should intervene if mobile-phone carriers continue to refuse to offer early-alert warnings for natural disasters and other local emergencies.
“If we can’t get private industry doing this, then I think Congress should look at this,” Witt told RCR at a policy forum here on hurricane preparedness and response.
Witt said broadcast and cable TV emergency alerts-as well as transmitters operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for weather radios-are not enough. “We still have a void.”
Witt noted Vice President Gore’s keen interest and work on disaster warnings in the Digital Age.
Indeed, in an October 1999 letter to the Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard on how broadcasters can make flexible use of digital spectrum, Gore stated, “We believe the commission, perhaps in conjunction with the National Partnership [on Reinventing Government], could spearhead this collaborative effort to identify ways to refine our hazard-warning network.”
Gore also is involved in developing a global disaster information network.
Witt’s comments come as the White House nears the release of a report that will advocate use of mobile phones and other wireless technologies for emergency-alert warnings, according to White House and industry officials that worked on the study.
The report, prepared by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, could be issued this week.
Despite gentle prodding by the FCC and others in government, no mobile-phone carrier in the United States provides emergency-alert service to a fast-growing market that numbers more than 93 million subscribers.
Not all mobile carriers are capable of providing emergency alert warnings via cell broadcast technology today. Global System for Mobile communications represents the most promising technology for emergency-alert warnings, both in terms of technical capability and geographical coverage.
Unlike Code Division Multiple Access and Time Division Multiple Access technologies, GSM handsets and networks are equipped to provide emergency-alert warnings to wireless consumers.
An industry standard now exists to provide the service. The Telecommunications Industry Association last December published a standard for transmitting emergency-alert messages on cellular and personal communications services systems.
GSM systems serve 4,600 cities and 47 states. More importantly, though, GSM mobile-phone systems by VoiceStream Wireless Corp. and Powertel Inc. operate in areas like the plains states and Southeast that are particularly vulnerable to violent weather.
That vulnerability is becoming more acute. The government says the United States is entering into a weather cycle that will produce even more violent storms. During January 1999, there were 163 tornadoes-three times as many as the previous monthly record for January, of 52 tornadoes set in 1975.
The administration sees technology improvements-as applied to meteorology and digital communications-as key to early warnings.
“When people know disasters are coming, they act. They can save lives, reduce damage and suffering, and speed recovery. Technological advances are improving in our forecasting ability every day. More warning gives us more time to prepare. Minutes are important when thunderstorms, tornadoes, tsunamis, wildfires and flash floods are approaching,” stated the Clinton administration’s December 1999 report. The same report said pagers and mobile phones have much to offer in this respect.
Another alternative, using network-based 911 locating technology, is capable of provide short message service on mobile-phone systems. RCR has learned that a national wireless carrier is looking to deploy this solution this year. The one drawback is SMS is said to put a drain on mobile-phone networks compared to cell-broadcast technology.
The wireless industry argues the decision about whether carriers should offer emergency-alert service should be left to the marketplace.
Today, the Emergency Alert System-overseen by a small staff at the FCC-requires broadcast and large cable TV operators to install special equipment to monitor National Weather Service alerts.
In general, broadcasters and cable TV operators must transmit national warnings, but are not obliged to carry send out state and local emergency alerts. Many do anyway.
The wireless industry has indicated concern about being vulnerable to lawsuits. But if local emergency warnings are carried out voluntarily, wireless carriers, like broadcasters and cable TV operators, would not be liable for any mishaps. Liability should not be an excuse for not providing emergency-alert service to mobile-phone subscribers, said FCC officials.
Despite industry recalcitrance, there are signs of progress. Some zoning boards are beginning to see emergency-alert capability as a public benefit-one that can be a deciding factor in whether siting approval is granted.
The city of St. Charles, Mo., a fast-growing community outside of St. Louis, approved such an ordinance in April, leaving several carriers with applications to erect towers there in a quandary.
Douglas Weiser, president of the Cellular Emergency Alert Services Association, said he has spoken with zoning officials in other states who are interested in modeling their ordinances after St. Charles.
