Wireless emergency alerts to be mandatory by April 2018

The CRTC has ordered wireless service providers to implement a system for the sending of emergency alerts over LTE networks that will be operational in a year’s time. In its decision Thursday, the CRTC said that since more Canadians now have cellphones than landlines, and that alerts have been mandatory for broadcasters since March 2016, requiring wireless providers “to distribute emergency alert messages on mobile devices would be in the public interest and would help protect Canadians from imminent threats to life and property.” The CRTC noted interveners, including wireless service providers and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), were generally in favour of a mandatory system for providers during the consultation process. The system will cost $18 million to $25 million to set up, the CWTA estimated in its intervention. In its decision, the CRTC said that according to information submitted by providers, implementation costs, “as well as operational and maintenance costs, would result in nominal costs on a per-customer basis.” Still, it told providers companies aren’t allowed to add a separate fee on their bill for the service. The system applies only to LTE networks. Wireless providers had argued that implementing the system on pre-LTE networks — which Shaw Communications Inc.’s Freedom Mobile referred to as “legacy” and Rogers Communications Inc. said were near the end of their operational lives — would “add considerable time and cost.” The commission noted that about 97.4 per cent of Canadians have access to LTE, which providers “continue to deploy and expand,” adding it included a fund to help roll out LTE as part of its decision on basic service in December. “The Commission is of the view that exempting pre-LTE networks from requirements will have minimal impact on the coverage of emergency alerting. Conversely, requiring WPA on pre-LTE networks would increase deployment costs and delay the deployment of emergency alerts over wireless networks,” it said in the decision. Providers of mobile satellite service will also be exempted, given “the inability to undertake precise geo-targeting due to the nature of satellite beams would make the rollout of WPA on mobile satellite service technologies impractical.” The commission also made receiving messages mandatory, even though some interveners suggested that customers should have the option to opt out of aspects of the system. Most wireless providers, the CRTC noted, “submitted that users should have the ability to opt out or disable the ring tone and vibration for certain types of alerts,” while the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said the CRTC should review how opt-out options have worked in other countries, and “that individuals should be allowed to opt out if the effect is found to be minimal.” The privacy commissioner noted that “many people consider their mobile devices to be private and personal, and that some individuals could consider emergency alerts to be intrusive,” the decision said. CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais said in a press release that the national public alert system is “vital to Canadians, it has saved countless lives, including those of children through Amber Alerts. Once the system is in place, an even greater number of Canadians will receive alerts on their mobile phones and will be able to take appropriate safety measures." Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale praised the new rules in a statement Friday. “This CRTC decision allows alerting authorities and their partners to work toward providing Canadians with public alerts in both official languages on their mobile devices that will help them to take immediate action to protect themselves and their families,” the statement said. “While there is still much work to be done, we look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to meet the CRTC’s wireless public alerting recommendations.” — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca

Wireless emergency alerts to be mandatory by April 2018

News | April 6, 2017

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Wireless emergency alerts to be mandatory by April 2018

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