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FEMA Emergency Test Message to be Sent to Most U.S. Cell Phones on Sept. 20 (or Oct. 3)

posted by chromas on Saturday September 15 2018, @08:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the teste dept.

takyon writes:

IPAWS National Test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on September 20, 2018. The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT. The test will assess the operational readiness of the infrastructure for distribution of a national message and determine whether improvements are needed. The WEA test message will be sent to cell phones that are connected to wireless providers participating in WEA. This is the fourth EAS nationwide test and the first national WEA test. Previous EAS national tests were conducted in November 2011, September 2016, and September 2017 in collaboration with the FCC, broadcasters, and emergency management officials in recognition of FEMA's National Preparedness Month.

[...] Cell towers will broadcast the WEA test for approximately 30 minutes beginning at 2:18 p.m. EDT. During this time, WEA compatible cell phones that are switched on, within range of an active cell tower, and whose wireless provider participates in WEA should be capable of receiving the test message. Some cell phones will not receive the test message, and cell phones should only receive the message once. The WEA test message will have a header that reads "Presidential Alert" and text that says:

"THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."

The WEA system is used to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children, and other critical situations through alerts on cell phones. The national test will use the same special tone and vibration as with all WEA messages (i.e. Tornado Warning, AMBER Alert). Users cannot opt out of the WEA test. If circumstances, such as a major weather event, cause the IPAWS National Test to be postponed, the back-up date is Wednesday, October 3, 2018.

Also at Engadget.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @04:15AM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @04:15AM (#735538)

    If Trump gets banned from Twitter, he's going to use these Presidential Alerts instead.

  • (Score: 4, Funny) by takyon on Sunday September 16 2018, @04:28AM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Sunday September 16 2018, @04:28AM (#735542) Journal

    Don't have to open twitter.com/realDonaldTrump anymore? Convenient!

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 1) by realDonaldTrump on Monday September 17 2018, @07:04AM

      by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Monday September 17 2018, @07:04AM (#735891) Homepage Journal

      I have many great people but also an amazing number of haters and losers responding to my tweets -- why do these lowlifes follow -- nothing to do!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @06:09AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @06:09AM (#735554)

    As much as I'd like to see him banned from Twitter, and everything else, I really don't think Twitter could even if they wanted to. I could be wrong but I remember hearing something in the news about this in early 2016. It's not really a first amendment issue because Twitter is a private company and can refuse service to anyone but this is the highest public office in the government which could get tricky. If Twitter can ban the president then does that mean any business can refuse service to him? If he shows up at a restaurant can the owner kick him out?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @07:24AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @07:24AM (#735568)

      If he shows up at a restaurant can the owner kick him out?

      If the owner of a restaurant can't kick him out it means this country is no longer America. Twitter can purge the cancer that is the orange blob from their network at any time. They let him continue to violate their ToS because it would cost them a large number of users if they did kick him off. (If I posted half the hate-filled diarrhea Trump has I'd be banned for life.)

    • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday September 16 2018, @05:12PM (1 child)

      by wonkey_monkey (279) on Sunday September 16 2018, @05:12PM (#735696) Homepage

      If Twitter can ban the president then does that mean any business can refuse service to him? If he shows up at a restaurant can the owner kick him out?

      Yes.

      Why would that be bad?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @11:35PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 16 2018, @11:35PM (#735773)

        I'd really like to see a business test this... Legalities aside, that would be the most polarizing PR move ever...