[Ccarc] FCC RULES ON Emergency alerts to cellphones

[Tom Murray]

	FCC Adopts Rules on Emergency Alerts via Cell Phones (4/9)
	

	
The FCC adopted a first report and order (R&O) to support the
ability of the nation’s wireless carriers to transmit timely and
accurate alerts, warnings and critical information to cell phones and
other mobile devices of consumers during disasters or other
emergencies, the commission said in a statement. The order is in
compliance with the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act.The
order adopts relevant technical requirements based on the
recommendations of the Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory
Committee (CMSAAC) for the transmission of such emergency messages to
the public. Once fully implemented, the Commercial Mobile Alert System
(CMAS) will help ensure that Americans who subscribe to participating
wireless services receive emergency alerts when there is a disaster or
emergency. Wireless
carriers that choose to participate in the CMAS will transmit
text-based alerts to their subscribers. As technology evolves, the CMAS
may eventually include audio and video services to transmit emergency
alerts to the public. The FCC rules will require wireless carriers who
participate in the CMAS to transmit messages with both vibration
cadence and audio attention signals for disabled subscribers.
Consumers can expect to receive three types of messages via their cell
phones and other mobile devices from participating wireless carriers,
including:
* Presidential alerts — national emergency-related alerts delivered to
the public that would pre-empt any other pending alerts; 
* Imminent threat alerts — alerts with information on emergencies that
may pose an imminent risk to people’s lives or well-being; and
* Child abduction emergency/AMBER alerts — alerts related to missing or
endangered children due to an abduction or runaway situation. Under
the CMAS, subscribers to wireless services with roaming agreements will
receive timely alerts, provided a subscriber’s mobile device is
configured for, and technically capable of, receiving such emergency
alerts from the network they are roaming on. Participating
wireless carriers will be required to comply with the rules adopted in
the order within 10 months from the date of announcement that a federal
agency has been designated to collect and transmit the alerts to the
wireless carriers. 
	







_________________________________________________________________
Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live Messenger.
http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/connect_your_way.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_messenger_video_042008
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://ns1.culcom.net/pipermail/ccarc/attachments/20080416/69e4a6f9/attachment.htm