ATSC 3.0 Broadcasters, Qualcomm and Others Want to Provide WEA Backup

Wireless technology companies, satellite operators and a host of broadcast industry entities pitching ATSC 3.0-based methods responded to the FCC Public Safety Bureau’s call for partners to test ways to deliver wireless emergency alerts without using cell towers, according to comments filed in docket 22-160 by Monday’s deadline. “In some cases, mobile networks can be disrupted by the very emergency to which a WEA pertains,” said NAB. “A successful partnership with the Bureau could further bolster the case for ATSC 3.0 abroad” and encourage manufacturers to include 3.0 chips in their phones, said Sinclair’s ATSC 3.0 subsidiary One Media. Qualcomm, Skylo Technologies, PBS, 5G broadcast company XGen and others suggested their own solutions.

The majority of comments came from entities involved in the ATSC 3.0 transition. Broadcasting infrastructure is already in place, covers the entire country and has shown itself to be more resilient than cellular technology, many submissions said. During the recent Maui, Hawaii, fires, “100 percent of cell sites were out of service for four days in several cities in the Western part of the island” while “no broadcast television stations were reported as out of service,” NAB said. The trade group and One Media emphasized the development of 3.0-enabled mobile phones, and said broadcasters are experienced handling emergency alert messages. NAB said it could conduct a test using TV stations to send WEA messages to One Media’s Mark One 3.0 smartphone without grants of special temporary authority or other FCC permissions.

PBS North Carolina, Triveni Digital, alerting equipment manufacturer Digital Alert Systems and North Carolina Emergency Management developed a system that uses public television 3.0 broadcasts as a “transmission pipe” to deliver emergency dispatch information to first responders, they said in a joint filing. That system could be extended to support delivering WEA messages to ATSC 3.0 mobile retrievers, their joint comments said. “The ATSC 3.0 receivers can be low-cost, low-power consumption and suitable for integration into NOAA weather radios, smart speakers, automobile infotainment systems and other devices,” said the joint filing. America’s Public Television Stations proposed a test using public TV datacasting to deliver a WEA via ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 to a home alerting gateway device that could then pass it to home devices such as cellphones and smart speakers.

Several broadcaster filings emphasized ATSC 3.0’s geotargeting and capability to deliver messages more extensive than existing EAS messages. Longer, more-detailed messages make it less likely that recipients will engage in “milling” -- delaying acting in an emergency while waiting for more information -- said the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance. AWARN said the FCC should take a “holistic view” toward testing and include alerting professionals and social scientists. “Alerting is much more than a technical process,” the AWARN filing said.

PBS said the agency could take advantage of the PBS warning, alert and response network system, which already uses public station broadcast spectrum to distribute WEA messages to commercial mobile service providers. PBS also developed a system called Eyes on IPAWS (integrated public alert and warning system) that uses a TV antenna to receive WEAs from local PBS stations. With that technology, “any alerting device that can be equipped with a television receiver and antenna can be used to provide WEAs, even when cellular networks are down (as long as that device is located within the coverage area of a local PBS member station),” the filing said.

Qualcomm highlighted how sidelink, its off-network device-to-device communications capability, could be used when towers go down. “Sidelink is a globally standardized 5G cellular technology that can operate seamlessly with the nationwide 5G operational ecosystem and also off-network when and where there is no cellular connectivity,” Qualcomm said: “Sidelink can be incorporated into mobile phones used by millions of consumers and also within other wearable communications devices. Many consumers do not have to incur significant costs or burdens to use this potentially life-saving communications technology; sidelink can be enabled through a software update on most mobile phones.”

The FCC could back up cellular WEAs with existing FM public radio spectrum using the service Alert FM, said Global Security Systems, the tech’s manufacturer. “Alert FM transmits alerts and warnings to the public by broadcasting emergency messages over the existing FM public radio network to any device equipped with a standard FM chip,” said the GSS filing. XGen Network said its 5G broadcast tech would be able to receive WEAs as wireless providers do and transmit them to mobile phones, starting in late 2024.

Satellite operators also weighed in. Lynk Global said it’s deploying “a ubiquitous last-mile solution that will expand coverage for mobile phones to the ninety percent of the planet, including millions of Americans, that terrestrial networks cannot reach due to economic or technical constraints.” That technology doesn’t require a specialized device and could be used for alerts, Lynk said.

Skylo Technologies said it would like to participate in any tests, using its commercial virtualized radio access network. “Skylo works with existing satellite operators, terrestrial mobile network operators, and device makers to provide subscribers an anywhere, anytime connectivity solution that seamlessly roams between terrestrial and satellite networks,” the company said.