WASHINGTON-The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association last week went on the offensive to put in place a technical standard that will allow carriers to alert subscribers of an impending natural disaster or weather emergency.
Also, James L. Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, last week stressed citizens need to heed warnings they receive about natural disasters and weather emergencies.
The CTIA standard calls for linking wireless phones to the existing emergency broadcast service. The nation’s Emergency Alert System was designed during the Cold War to warn citizens of national emergencies. The system never has been used for that purpose, but it has been used to warn of weather emergencies and natural disasters.
The Standards Requirements Document submitted at the Telecommunications Industry Association meeting in Illinois urges TIA to develop a method for providing wireless users with EAS messages. CTIA further suggested this could be accomplished through the short message services, in a broadcast mode, over the digital control channel.
Deciding when alert messages should be sent is the job of local and state government. FEMA works with local and state governments to implement EAS. Witt said the most important thing FEMA can do is protect human lives. People need to “know where to go and what to do [and] take the warnings seriously,” he said.
The commercial wireless industry last month came under pressure to address the issue of using wireless networks to provide weather warnings to subscribers. A “PrimeTime Live” story featuring Douglas Weiser, a proponent of the idea, took the industry to task for not moving more quickly on the issue.
The Federal Communications Commission has indicated it would examine the issue but is not considering a rule that would require industry to offer the service.
The private wireless industry, most notably utilities and the petroleum industries, have implemented systems to alert their employees of impending disasters or weather-related events and communicate with their employees after disasters.
Duke Energy, a power company in the Carolinas, uses a two-way radio network with a “ruthless pre-emption” feature that allows employees in the field to warn if they see funnel clouds or suspect a tornado. Ruthless pre-emption lets everyone hear the alert, said David Fulmer of Duke Energy.
The power company also has a weather alert system for extremely hot days when the load is high so the load-shedding plan can be put into action, Fulmer said. Load-shedding refers to reducing voltage on substations so the general public does not lose power during times when many people use air conditioners.
Duke Energy is anticipating a lot of hot days this year, so the system is expected to be used more than the average three-to-five times a year, he said. The system is not used for hurricanes or blizzards because meteorologists predict these events and give enough advance warning.
Chevron Corp. has implemented a plan for the San Francisco Bay area in the event of a catastrophic earthquake that uses wireless communications to keep Chevron’s employees and their families in touch. At noon on the day after an earthquake until 4 p.m., 42 volunteers report to 16 so-called rally points in the area. These volunteers each have been issued equipment that uses wireless technology to transmit data to the other rally points. The system allows Chevron’s employees to stay on the job and still know their family members are safe, said Chris Wimmer, Chevron’s emergency preparedness director.
In addition to the digital equipment and network, Chevron maintains a basic 400 MHz repeater system as a back-up in case the wireless network has been damaged by the earthquake, Wimmer said.
