UPDATE Inside Towers reported the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) planned a simultaneous nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert system (WEA) system and the broadcast Emergency Alert System (EAS) this summer, and now the FCC has made it official. FEMA and the Commission plan to conduct the test on August 11.
This is the first joint nationwide alerting test since 2018; last year’s planned joint test was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The test message will clearly state that the alert is only a test. FEMA, in coordination with the FCC, will initiate the WEA portion of the nationwide test using the State/Local WEA Test category for the first time. Only those subscribers who have opted-in to receive WEA test messages will receive the alert.
Participating Commercial Mobile Service Providers are required to transmit the State/Local Test message and enable subscribers to opt-in to receive it. FEMA will transmit the alert in both English and Spanish.
In contrast, all EAS participants are required to participate in the nationwide EAS test. FEMA will transmit the EAS portion of the nationwide test through the FEMA designated Primary Entry Point stations. Testing the broadcast daisy chain distribution system will enable the FCC and FEMA to assess whether the national EAS would perform as designed, if activated, according to officials. They also want to determine whether EAS messages can be delivered to the public if internet distribution is not available.
Members of the public and interested stakeholder organizations that can observe test results in their communities can provide useful feedback on the nationwide test. That includes telling officials whether they received the message or not, or observed other delivery complications. Feedback can be sent to the Public Safety Support Center.
As usual, the test is slated for 2:20 p.m. EDT origination, a time designed not to interfere with local events. Should conditions preclude conducting the test on the primary date, the backup test date is August 25.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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