AWARN Strikes Back At T-Mobile At FCC

The AWARN Alliance in an FCC filing yesterday blasted T-Mobile for disparaging its efforts to developed an advanced emergency alerting system based on the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast system.

In its own agency comments earlier in the week, T-Mobile has called the 3.0 “an inferior platform” compared to the “well-established wireless network.”

On the contrary, AWARN charged, it is the wireless network that is inferior and that T-Mobile. What’s more, it said, T-Mobile and other wireless carriers are actively resisting current FCC efforts to improve their emergency alerting.

“The reality is that ATSC 3.0 provides the building blocks to make the improvements to public alerting that T-Mobile says are not possible, realistic, or needed on its network,” AWARN said.

AWARN also noted that the broadcasting infrastructure is hardier than the wireless network in emergency conditions.

“Recent painful events illustrate – again – the vital importance of broadcasting in public emergencies,” it said.

“Based on the commission’s September 11 Communications Status Report for Areas Impacted by Hurricane Irma, 3,973 or 27.4 percent of cell towers in the state of Florida were reported out of service.

“However, a total of just four television stations in the whole of Florida were reported out of service relating to Hurricane Irma over September 11-12.”