FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has announced a sweeping review of the Emergency Alert System as part of his “Build America Agenda,” signaling potentially the most significant changes to US emergency communications infrastructure in more than three decades.
Carr previewed the coming actions in a blog post published Wednesday, saying the FCC will vote to launch a comprehensive re-examination of both the Emergency Alert System at the Commission’s upcoming August Open meeting, which sends alerts via TV and radio, and the Wireless Emergency Alerts platform used on mobile devices.
“With underlying frameworks that are 31 [EAS] and 13 years old [WEA], we think it’s time to explore if structural changes to these systems are needed, with an eye towards making sure we are leveraging the latest technology to save lives,” Carr said.
The announcement follows historic flooding in the Texas Hill Country earlier this month that claimed more than 120 lives. Carr emphasized the FCC’s role in ensuring reliable communication during crises, referencing a recent Commission roundtable on network resiliency that featured representatives from emergency services, telecommunications, and energy providers.
Carr’s announcement likely comes as welcome news to the NAB, which has been continuing its campaign for the allowance of software-based Emergency Alert System encoders and decoders.
The EAS reforms are part of a broader summer regulatory surge at the FCC under Carr’s leadership. Other upcoming initiatives include streamlining disaster data reporting through reforms to the Disaster Information Reporting System, removing outdated technical mandates for radio stations, and other initiatives under “Delete, Delete, Delete.”
The August 7 meeting will come just two weeks after the July 24 Open Meeting, which is expected to address more telecom-related issues.
