[EAS] Manual Relay and Immediacy

[Dave Turnmire]

Mike,
While there is certainly much truth in your comments, lets be careful to 
distinguish between the Public Internet and the Internet Protocol.  I 
know a number of states, including my own, are currently evaluating how 
to update our current "legacy EAS" based State Relay Network with one 
that essentially broadcasts the IPAWS CAP messages via other IP 
techniques... just one of which is datacasting via TV stations.  The 
idea is to get the benefits of CAP (and IP for that matter), while still 
being able to deliver the alerts in a world where there is wide spread 
Internet outages.

As the saying goes, "the devil is in the details"... and I have found 
there are in fact some "details" that are problematic to resolve.  In 
part because of concerns the simplest way to fix one identified problem 
would appear to have a significant chance of getting broken by future 
FCC regulations.  You know, the type that we are all too familiar 
with... good intentioned regulations that don't take into account "on 
the ground reality".

Dave

On 8/20/2016 5:13 PM, Mike McCarthy wrote:
> Let me make this argument moot. I have said this all along: Relying on the
> internet and commercial IP infrastructure for mission critical functions,
> such as public safety, is a false sense of security. It's not the fiber
> long lines I'm most concerned about in a national event. It's the various
> local service providers, centers, NOC's, CO's, interconnect sites, and
> their electronics which are the weak links across any number of hazards.
> Specifically, the last mile to various subscribers (AKA stations and cable
> systems)
>
> If we ever do get to an EAN, there is a very good chance the internet as
> we know it will be degraded at minimum, and likely off line for a great
> number of stations and cable systems. Even LP-1's and 2's located in metro
> centers will likely be impacted. The only way into those areas will PEP
> stations which can directly access the TX's and diversified satellite
> services to other stations. But not all of them are LP-1's and 2's. Such
> curtailment of the internet renders IPAW's and PEP significance in those
> areas as irrelevant.
>