CTIA Wants Delay on New FCC Requirements for Wireless Emergency Alerts

CTIA said the FCC should extend the Nov. 1 deadline for carriers to meet new requirements for wireless emergency alerts. The Competitive Carriers Association also pressed for more time (see 1708160063). Carriers “are committed to working collaboratively with public safety and alert originators to develop the ability to receive and transmit WEA alerts with embedded references on their networks, and to work with mobile device and [operating system] vendors to implement embedded, ‘clickable’ references, but remain concerned about implementing such functionality without adequate time for development and feasibility testing,” CTIA said in a filing in docket 15-91. “To ensure that ‘clickable’ references are deployed in an effective manner, standards development and implementation are critical pre-requisites.” Timelines should be extended and should apply only to new devices, CTIA said.