Carriers Need to Add Blue Alerts to WEA By July 2019

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The FCC added a Blue Alert event code to its Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). Alert originators would issue a “B–L–U” alert whenever a law enforcement officer is injured or killed, missing, or there is an imminent and credible threat to cause death or serious injury to law enforcement officers. Blue Alerts are to be delivered over EAS by January 18, 2019 and via WEA by July 18 of that same year.

EAS equipment manufacturers Monroe and Sage Alerting Systems told the FCC that 12 months is sufficient to allow for the new event code to be deployed within a scheduled equipment software update. CTIA and T-Mobile told the agency that Blue Alerts could be temporarily incorporated into the existing WEA texts as an imminent threat without new standards or system modifications, Inside Towers reported.

WEA participants asked for more time, hence the 18-month implementation period to ensure the necessary equipment upgrades, software updates, development, and testing are completed to enable the delivery of Blue Alerts over WEA and to minimize deployment costs.

Publication of the final rule in the Federal Register triggered the implementation dates. The FCC will keep the docket 15–94 open for comments until March 19, 2018, for those interested in providing input on potential implementation steps, time frame, and costs.

January 22, 2018

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