Carriers warn FCC not to move too hastily in expanding emergency alerts

US carriers say they support the Federal Communications Commission's effort to expand its emergency wireless alert (EWA) system, but they're urging the agency not to make any hasty moves. The nation's emergency messaging system launched four years ago with the aim of sending urgent messages regarding severe weather, AMBER alerts and presidential alerts during a national emergency. The FCC announced plans late in 2015 to upgrade the system in a few key areas. It hopes to increase the maximum number of characters from 90 to 360, and to enable officials to embed URLs and phone numbers in those messages. The agency also wants to make alerts better targeted to the most relevant users and communities, and to establish a testing program to improve effectiveness. Jan 13 was the deadline for public comments on the move, and the FCC received more than three dozen documents just during the week of Jan 11 from businesses, trade groups and governmental agencies. All four tier-one operators filed comments, as did the CTIA- The Wireless Association. The carriers agreed that the maximum number of characters per alert should be increased, but urged the FCC to continue to use the 90-character limit on older handsets that may not be able to support longer messages.