FEMA, FCC analyze national Emergency Alert System test

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the FCC have set a Dec. 27 deadline for collecting information about the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, a FEMA official told the White House earlier this week.

Several glitches were reported during the Nov. 9 EAS test, which was designed in part to measure how effective local broadcasters, cable operators and satellite providers would be in delivering messages to the public during a national crisis. Some DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) subscribers reported hearing a Lady Gaga song playing during the test, rather than the alert tone, and some Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) subscribers said they saw the feed for home-shopping channel QVC during the test.

Damon Penn, assistant administrator for national continuity programs at FEMA, said that FEMA and the FCC expect to receive full results of the national EAS test on Dec. 27, according to testimony FEMA submitted to the White House earlier this week. But Penn did not say when FEMA and the FCC may share results of the test with the public.

"Sometime soon thereafter, FEMA will have the information and analysis to determine the extent of the EAS successes and limitations, and how to improve the system and its components. For example, making the EAS fully accessible for people with access and functional needs is one of our major points of focus, and we are working closely with the disability community towards this goal," Penn said.

For more:
- see White House testimony from FEMA

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