Gary K Jones Director of Technical Standards

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Gary K JonesDirector of Technical Standards
OES/CPUC/Lieutenant Governors Office Workshop
for California Emergency Alerts
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T-Mobile USA

• A nationwide wireless service provider providing
  service in the state of California
• The first carrier to provide wireless priority
  service allowing federal, state and local
  officials priority calling on our network in
  times of network congestion
• Provider of wireless E911 service caller
  locations and call back numbers for delivery to
  public safety agencies
• Active participant in industry efforts such as as
  the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),
  3G America, CSM Association, Open Mobile
  Alliance, CTIA, IETF and ATIS and it is a member
  of the U.S. delegation to the ITU
• Active participant in federal efforts to develop
  technical standards and protocols for the
  voluntary transmission of emergency alerts by
  wireless providers as part of the WARN Act,
  creating what is referred to as Commercial Mobile
  Alert Service (CMAS)

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Current Messaging Capability

• Short Messaging Service (SMS)
• Point to Point requires a distinct connection
  between users
• Connection set up is exactly the same as a voice
  call
• There is no ability in the GSM network to send
  SMS to a particular geographic area or to a group
  of users
• Each message must be uniquely addressed to an
  individual subscriber and received wherever
  they are
• Capacity is limited by network and radio
  resources
• SMS designed for busy hour commercial messaging
  needs and that capacity would be exceeded quickly
  with emergency messages
• SMS emergency alert message delivery times can
  exceed one hour to a large city

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Emergency Alert Requirements

• Timely delivery of alerts to even a small number
  of users in a small geographic area requires a
  broadcast point-to-multipoint messaging system
• A single message is sent to multiple users at the
  same time
• Impact to the network is manageable as long as
  the alert does not result in heavy usage of the
  network resources
• Messages must be authentic and meet requirements
  for a wireless emergency alert
• Imminent threat to life and property
• Informative within the message length limitations
• Does not drive behavior destructive to the
  wireless network (immediate placing of wireless
  calls or accessing the web)

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Emergency Alert Challenges

• Message Initiation
• Traditional EAS has been local in nature local
  EOC talking to local radio and TV managers
• T-Mobile is a nationwide wireless service
  provider and has no such local presence
• Messages must be authenticated, authorized,
  formatted correctly and sent to a central
  location in our network most probably the
  Network Operations Center (NOC)
• Messages must come with sufficient information so
  the NOC knows where to send the message for
  transmission, how often to repeat, expiration
  time, etc.
• It is not feasible for a nationwide wireless
  service provider to have a connection to
  thousands of individual emergency
  managers/message initiators so messages should
  come from one trusted source

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CMAS Architecture
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State of our Network

• SMS is deployed and available in every handset,
  but the capacity for both voice and messaging is
  provisioned for busy hour and will break down
  with heavy usage
• No broadcast capability (cell broadcast, MBMS,
  etc.) exists in our network or on the majority of
  our handsets
• Even where cell broadcast software is available
  on a handset
• The menu is hidden from the user or buried
• Cell broadcast has never been tested or certified
  for network use
• Regardless of what you have been told
• Any messaging system must have the underlying
  messaging technology present in the wireless
  service providers network and handsets
• Any messaging system must have the capacity in
  the wireless service providers network and
  handsets in order to deliver messages in a timely
  and effective manner

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Summary

• T-Mobile has and continues to support the needs
  of our customers and the public safety community
• T-Mobile participates in the FCCs Commercial
  Mobile Service Alert Advisory Committee and is
  committed to developing an effective nationwide
  Commercial Mobile Alert Service
• T-Mobile believes a national wireless alert
  service, available to authorized federal, state
  and local emergency managers is the best way to
  approach the complex but worthwhile task of using
  wireless devices for emergency alerts
• T-Mobile recommends state participation in the
  ongoing FCCs wireless alert proceeding

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Thank you
Questions?