02/06/2006 Cell phone programs updated to inform in disasters By: Howard Roden , Courier staff
LAKE CONROE - The day is fast approaching when cell phone users throughout America will receive up-to-the-minute information and warnings about impending natural disasters - as well as other emergencies - thanks to a Tampa, Fla., company that has placed its broadcast hub in the secure confines of the Westlin bunker.
CellCast Communications is working to receive Federal Communications Commission approval to implement its broadcast emergency alert system. CellCast's software makes it possible to deliver text messages, even when the cell phones are in use or the voice portion of cell phones is overloaded, to specific geographic areas. This system uses a feature already built into most cell phones but is largely unused, said Mark Wood of the international Cellular Emergency Alert Systems Association. CEASa is a London-based group of engineers and software makers who advocate "cell broadcasting." CellCast is a private, for-profit "spinoff" company under license from CEASa, he said. "Creating CellCast wasn't our original intent, but creating the company was the easiest way for us to implement this technology in America," said Wood, who toured the Westlin facility last week while announcing the joint venture between CellCast and Westlin Corp. "This is the only way the major cell phone companies (in America) would deal with us." Although there are a myriad of commercial applications in regard to cell broadcasting that could lead to revenue-producing opportunities, Wood said CellCast's primary mission is "at the end of the day, to save lives." "We're stitching together technology that already exists," he said. "But it's technology that has to fit the politics of the moment." What differentiates cell broadcasting from typical voice traffic is that the former is a one-way medium. Thus, the message can be sent indiscriminately to every phone in a cell tower's receiving area without having to identify and locate individual phone numbers. As a result, hundreds of thousands of messages can be broadcast in no more than 20 seconds, Wood said. The message would remain on the phones for up to a minute, unless a new message is sent. "The message is received in the phone, even if it is in use or turned off," he said. "The message, along with a beep or some tone, would appear once the cell phone user either ends the call or turns on the phone." Providing advance warning of impending disasters - such as the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia in 2004 - is one of the more obvious benefits of the technology. But cell broadcasting can provide information about severe weather conditions (i.e., tornadoes), industrial accidents or give specific route instructions during a hurricane evacuation. "Can you imagine how this may have helped during (Hurricane) Rita?" Wood said. "Your local or regional authorities could have communicated information to hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously and kept them abreast of conditions." With the advent of "third generation" cell phones, CellCast could augment regional alert systems, such as the "Amber Alert," which is activated when children are suspected of being kidnapped. Photographs of the missing children would be broadcast to all the cell phones in a specific area, along with any important information. Regional and local areas would be defined in the CellCast Emergency Alert System software. And authorities in those areas - such as police or emergency management personnel - could send messages to a specific area within that area, or to a single cell tower. "We can define an area very clearly, and it's scalable to any degree you like," said Wood, who previously worked as an emergency coordinator for the United Nations. "You could send a warning to a small village that is about to be washed out, or you could tell an entire region that's a tsunami coming." The messages a cell phone user receives from a specific area would end once the user travels into a different location. Montgomery County Deputy Chief Randy McDaniel, also the director of the county's Office of Emergency Management, said cell broadcast is a "great thing." "You can't hardly find someone who doesn't have a cell phone," he said. "I'm very much looking forward to having that technology available us." CellCast has been running a test of its application in Appleton, Wisc., and it has performed flawlessly, Wood said. It only took a half-day to make the system operational, and he said CellCast would need only three months to have the system implemented nationwide. Aside from FCC approval, figuring out how the system will be funded is the major concern facing CellCast. It could be financed with a surcharge to cell phone users, or the cost could be passed along to consumers when they purchase their phones, Wood said. The Netherlands became the first country in Europe to require cell phone companies to transmit government text warnings. The country paid three companies about $3 million to equip their networks to issue warnings about floods or rising ocean tides in low-lying areas. The system went into effect Wednesday. "The uses (of cell broadcasting) are limitless," Wood said. The system does have its limits, however. Although broadcasting text messages is possible, even when voice traffic has overloaded the cell system, physical damage to cell towers will cripple the broadcast feature. "That is its weakness," Wood said. "It's not completely foolproof." The Westlin bunker is one of three sites worldwide that will house the cell broadcast software, Wood said. Access to authorized users will be available through the bunker's secure network connections. "Our affiliation with Westlin offers us the highest level of security, which is vital to assuring effective and valid emergency alert notifications," said Douglas Wiser, CellCast's founder and director. "International trust protocols for authenticating messages have been established. Our association with Westlin assures these protocols may be honored and the emergency alerts delivered." "We're pleased to have the CellCast system operating from the bunker," said David Herr, president of Westlin. "We believe that the deployment of this system will save lives when used by emergency management officials and will be adopted nationally after its initial rollout here in the Gulf Coast."
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