Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) Myths: Part 1

In our conversations about the Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) with the general public, public safety officials, the wireless communications industry, and local, state, and Federal Government staffers, we?ve heard about many of the myths and misconceptions that exist about CMAS ? how it works, who is running it, and what members of the public will see once CMAS is deployed in April 2012. (We reported last week on some large-scale testing of CMAS, which sparked fears and confusion about this new system based on inaccurate information.)

This post is the first of two addressing some common myths and misconceptions about CMAS. Stay tuned for the second post, which will discuss another five aspects of CMAS commonly misunderstood.?

Myth 1: CMAS is part of the Federal Government?s plan to install a tracking chip in all our cell phones.

Fact: There is no ?CMAS chip.??

The Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee (CMSAAC ) determined that CMAS alerts should be distributed to the public through Cell Broadcast (CB) technology. CB has been around since about 1997. It is a valuable technology that allows wireless carriers (for example, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon) to send a single message to a specific cell tower that then broadcasts the message one way to all cell phones that are in the geographic area and able to receive the message.

Not all wireless carrier networks can send CB messages and not all cell phones in the U.S. can receive CB messages. CB technology has been slow to catch on in the U.S., so cell phone manufacturers have not produced many CB-programmed cell phones for sale in the U.S. market over the last several years. However, CB has been used successfully for commercial and/or public alerting purposes over the last several years in other countries like Israel, the Netherlands, and Poland.

CB technology is starting to catch on in the U.S. (and abroad) and wireless carriers are asking their cell phone manufacturers to include the technology in more and more of the cell phones they produce for the wireless carriers.
It should be noted that CMAS and CB technology are completely different and separate from FCC rulings and comments that eventually may require all cell phones manufactured for the U.S. market to have GPS technology.

Myth 2: CMAS alerts are text messages ? just like the normal text messages I receive on my cell phone already.

Fact: As noted above, CMAS alerts will be disseminated using CB technology, which differs from the SMS technology used to send and receive text messages.

SMS is a point-to-point technology; the sender is required to identify the phone number or numbers that should receive the message and must send the texts one at a time. CMAS?s use of CB technology allows it to send alerts point-to-many; the wireless carrier issues a single message to a cell tower and it is received by all CB-capable cell phones located near the cell tower. Because the wireless carrier sends the message to a cell tower, rather than to a cell phone, the carrier is not able to identify the specific phones that receive the CB message. CB messages also present themselves differently from SMS messages. CB messages, such as CMAS alerts, present text and a special tone and vibration cadence very different from what you normally see and hear when you receive an SMS text message. CB messages may appear in the unified messaging inbox, but they are not SMS messages.

Myth 3: CMAS alerts will jam cell phone lines during emergency events.

Fact: Because CMAS relies on CB technology, it is not impacted by traffic loads and CMAS alert messages will not get hung up or delayed the way text and voice calls sometimes do.?

During emergency events, spikes in use can burden and even crash wireless carriers? networks. However, CB technology operates differently from SMS and voice services and is not subject to the same traffic loads. CMAS alerts also will not interrupt or disconnect a call already in place; the device will not display the text, tone, and cadence of a CMAS alert message until a previous call has ended.

Myth 4: I?ll be charged by my wireless carrier for CMAS alerts.

Fact: Section 602(b)(2)(C) of the?Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act?prohibits wireless carriers who elect to transmit CMAS alert messages to ?impose a separate or additional charge for such transmission or capability.?

Not only is there no fee to turn on CMAS functionality?or to receive a CMAS alert, but,?as noted above, CMAS alerts are not SMS text messages that subscribers normally pay to send and receive.?In fact, wireless carriers are not able to identify the specific cell phones that receive a CB message ? so, technically, it would be impossible for wireless carriers to identify and charge cell phone owners for receiving a CMAS alert.

Myth 5: Once CMAS is deployed in April 2012 all cell phones in the U.S. will be able to receive CMAS alerts.

Fact: There are only a small number of cell phones and mobile devices in the U.S. market right now that are programmed with CB technology, and only those phones programmed with CB technology can receive CMAS alerts.?

As we reported in a previous post, the big four wireless carriers have already posted information on their websites about cell phones they currently carry that are able to receive CMAS [aka Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA)] messages. Check out your own wireless carrier?s website or contact your wireless carrier to determine if your cell phone can receive CMAS/WEA alerts.

Stay tuned for part two of our series,?in which?we?ll address five more myths about the type of information CMAS will provide, who will issue CMAS alerts, and when you can expect to? receive CMAS alerts.

Source: http://www.awareforum.org/2012/02/commercial-mobile-alert-service-cmas-myths-part-1/

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