2018 WEA Nationwide Test Results Informal, 'Uneven,' Say Initial Results

Early results of the first nationwide test of the wireless emergency alert system show “uneven” reception, the FCC Public Safety Bureau found from the October test of WEA and the emergency alert system (see 1810030051). Friday's public notice had more details for the EAS test, which wasn't a first, than for the WEA one because wireless test reporting isn't required, unlike for EAS. After surveying emergency communications representatives for most states and national industry associations, we found that officials, too, had better success with EAS tests. The report also squared with government predictions.

Seventy-two percent of voluntary respondents received the wireless alert, and public feedback to public safety support centers showed 61 percent of 316 respondents reported “no problems receiving a WEA.” Results for the nationwide EAS test show largely similar results to previous tests, though transmission of Spanish-language alerts increased. The “preliminary” study said it will be followed by further FCC and Federal Emergency Management Agency analysis of the 2018 results.

Wireless alerts and their tests are in “their infancy,” said Alaska State Emergency Communications Committee Chair Dennis Bookey. They're “respectable percentages” for a new, complicated system, he said. WEA faces many obstacles that EAS alerts don’t, said Maine SECC Chair Suzanne Goucher. EAS alerts are mandatory for broadcasters, but WEA participation is voluntary for carriers, she said.

Some carriers have opted out of passing on the alerts, or don't pass them along everywhere, Goucher said. When that partial coverage is combined with the usual human errors and transmission mishaps that occur during nationwide alert tests, it can lead to a lack of reception, she said. SECCs and other officials we surveyed agreed their states saw higher EAS rates of success than for the WEA test, which they said wasn't a surprise.

The WEA test “successfully demonstrated that a WEA can be delivered nationwide, notwithstanding some inconsistencies in WEA reception by some individuals,” the report said. “Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands did not receive the WEA portion of the test because they do not have cellular providers that participate in WEA.”

“The FCC’s report demonstrates the success of the first-ever nationwide" WEA test message "and reaffirms the life-saving capabilities of this technology,” said Matt Gerst, CTIA assistant vice president-regulatory affairs. NAB will work with the FCC and FEMA to further improve the system, said a spokesperson for the association. Other associations didn't have statements.

Other Issues

Stakeholders said other hurdles remain at the state and federal levels on coordination and other issues.

The "least successful area" of the exercise for Nevada stations was the FCC test reporting system website, said a Nevada SECC official. "Many stations were unable to enter their correct monitoring assignments in Form One and the problem carried over to Form Three," said Nevada SECC Chair Adrienne Abbott. The FCC may lack "an accurate picture" of how the national periodic test and emergency action notification "would propagate through large swaths of the western US," emailed the broadcast consultant. The commission declined to comment.

Some people were confused by getting a standard EAS test and then a cellphone alert "minutes apart," said Arkansas SECC Chair Chris Daniel. "There was a good bit of confusion among the public." Broadcasters had few technical glitches, he recounted. "I heard numerous reports about people not getting the WEA test." EAS is "far from perfect," and he doesn't "know if WEA will ever catch up."

California experts wish for consolidated warning functions and technologies. They said WEA and EAS should complement and not compete with each other. Emergency managers should use both and coordinate for "all available means to alert a public at risk," said SECC Vice Chair Richard Rudman. "Tests like the ones for WEA and the EAS can help uncover problems." Rudman's colleague James Gabbert said "we've been fighting for a totally coordinated warning system using all available technologies."

The broadcast nationwide EAS warning simulation performed similarly to previous tests, the report said. The nationwide EAS test has been performed in the same manner for the past three years. “Overall, performance appears to be consistent with what was observed in the 2017 nationwide EAS test,” FCC staff said. It said 95.5 percent of the 19,200 test participants received the alert in 2018, compared to 95.8 percent in 2017.

TV station participation fell about 4 percent to 2,621. Radio participation increased about 1.5 percent to 13,465. EAS officials said the reason for the changes likely will be looked into. Largely, the test shows similar results to previous years, Bookey said: Results are “flat.”

Over 750 test participants reported retransmitting the Spanish-language version, only possible if their alerts were triggered by receiving an alert through FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. And 207 retransmitted in Spanish or both English and Spanish last year. FCC policy and technical changes that could increase the transmission of IPAWS messages could be in place for future nationwide EAS tests (see 1804160064).