February 25, 2013 — The Chief, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an Order [PS Docket No. 07-287] that officially changes the name of the system used to transmit emergency alerts to the public from “Commercial Mobile Alert System” (CMAS) to “Wireless Emergency Alerts” (WEA). Under the Warning Alert and Response Network Act (WARN Act), the FCC adopted the essential technical requirements to enable commercial mobile service providers to transmit emergency alerts. This system was originally referred to as CMAS in the rulemaking proceedings released by the FCC. However, WEA is the more common terminology utilized by the commercial mobile service providers. Therefore, to eliminate confusion and provide consistency across organizations, the FCC revised the name to reflect what is commonly used by the participating mobile service providers.
CMAS Becomes “Wireless Emergency Alerts”
Connect with Us!
500 10th Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0620 | 404-3854614 | Contact Us
The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies is sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under grant number 90RE5007-01-00. The opinions contained in this website are those of the Wireless RERC and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or NIDILRR.