On the heels of the devastating wildfires in Northern California, hurricanes Irma, Harvey and Maria, the FCC rejected the five largest wireless carriers’ requests for more time to implement upgrades to Wireless Emergency Alerts.

It was September 2016 when the FCC adopted rules to enhance wireless alerts, including increasing the maximum length of messages from 90 characters to 360 characters and requiring that providers support embedding phone numbers and URLs in alerts.

Since then, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) sought delays in implementing the new rules. The FCC finally rejected the industry’s reconsideration of the rules.

“It’s amazing that it took four disasters to make this come about,” retired Adm. David Simpson, former FCC public safety and homeland security bureau chief told the San Francisco Examiner. “It should be an embarrassment to the commission, but it’s done.”

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http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Not-Deploying-Available-Technology-in-Wireless-Emergency-Alerts-Is-Costing-us-Lives.html