The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today issued a public notice providing information about a new Emergency Alert System (EAS) Test Reporting System (ETRS) that the agency plans to launch this year with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “As described in this Public Notice, the ETRS is designed to increase the reliability and value proposition of the EAS, while minimizing reporting burdens on EAS Participants,” the bureau said. “The ETRS will be able to accurately chart what happened in a particular test, as well as allow state alert originators and SECCs [state emergency communications committees] to understand ahead of time how an alert will propagate through a particular state, thus identifying potential single points of failure, poor transmission paths, and coverage gaps before they can potentially cause a system failure.” Meanwhile, FEMA informed the Public Safety Bureau in a letter posted today in PS docket 15-94 that it plans to conduct a national EAS test on Sept. 28 and that it wants to meet with FCC representatives on the test.

Courtesy TRDaily