Earlier this month, the US government tested the National Wireless Alert System, which caused a loud piercing noise to come from smartphone devices across the country. As it turned out, the major carriers in the country discovered some issues during the test.
As shared by PhoneArena, the four carriers (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Dish) had a seamless experience. But they discovered that there were some fiber cuts, which caused the receipt of the alert to be delayed in a few areas. In addition to this, the carriers found out that some Android smartphones had issues receiving the test. This prompted the carriers to conduct their own testing to take care of such issues.
One of the carriers that conducted a test is AT&T, who had 1,000 employee volunteers to check the alert. The wireless carrier filed a report with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that read:
"Over 99.3% of the respondents received and reviewed the English version of the alert. 85% of respondents received and reviewed the alert within 1 minute or less. And 90% of respondents received and reviewed the alert within 3 minutes or less."
This was due to a fiber cut in Texas, which affected 30 cell sites. The carrier also pointed out that this affected around 35,000 subscribers.
On T-Mobile’s part, it informed the agency that it noticed “an anomaly amongst subscribers utilizing certain handsets running the Android R (11) or newer Operating System (OS).”
Dish also experienced “unnamed complications” that stopped the alert from coming to some devices. But it noted that it was able to “implement certain improvements.” They are also working to do a re-test to make sure the fix works.
The FCC says that they designed the recent test “to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level.” They will also be improving the system and require carriers to support 13 of the widely spoken languages. Not to mention, there will also be an alert using Sign Language.
According to FCC Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel:
"These are important changes to the Wireless Emergency Alert system. These are the devices we have in our palms, pockets, and purses at all times. Every carrier and every device should be capable of receiving these warnings. This should not be voluntary. It's time to update the law."
Source: PhoneArena
