IPAWS Overview: FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Mark Lucero, Chief Engineer

IPAWS Division

mark.lucero@dhs.gov

202-646-1386

December 16, 2015

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FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking• Mar 2013 – FCC established a committee to make

recommendations for WEA improvements– http://tinyurl.com/CSRIC-4

• May 2014 – WEA testing report released– http://tinyurl.com/WEA-testing

• Oct 2014 – WEA geo-targeting, character length, message content report released– http://tinyurl.com/WEA-geotargeting

• Nov 19, 2015 – FCC issued a NPRM requesting public comments– http://tinyurl.com/WEA-NPRM

• Jan 13, 2016 – Initial comment period ends• Feb 12, 2016– Reply comment period ends

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FCC NPRM Highlights• FCC proposes expanding the WEA message length from 90 to 360

characters

• FCC proposes adding a new WEA category titled “Emergency Government Information” for non-emergency type messages (i.e. boil water, shelter locations)

• FCC proposes allowing URLs and telephone numbers in WEA messages which were previously prohibited

• FCC proposes including multilingual WEA messages

• FCC proposes improvements to WEA geo-targeting of alerts

• FCC proposes inclusion of local WEA test codes

• FCC proposes requiring cell carriers to log alerts and provide reports

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How to Comment on Proposed Changes• http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?name=15-91

• Click “Submit a Filing in 15-91” and fill out the form

• Enter the Proceeding Number, which is “15-91”

• Enter your name as Name of Filer

• Do not click the “Exparte Presentation” box

• The type of filing is “COMMENT”

• Enter your business address (not your personal address, as your comment and information will be publicly available)

• Save your comments in a Word document or similar format, and upload the file to the FCC site by clicking the “Browse” button

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http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/proceeding/view?name=15-91