In February, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order (R&O) and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) aimed at making Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) more effective for public safety officials. The adopted rules provided alert originators with the flexibility to send silent WEA and required wireless providers that participate in WEA to enable the sending of silent alerts that do not trigger the audio attention signal, vibration cadence, or both. Pursuant to Federal Register publication of these rules, the silent alert rules will become effective March 18, 2028.
Additionally, the R&O revised the definition of devices marketed as “WEA-capable” and clarified that any device marketed as such must adhere to the full suite of WEA capabilities, including device-based geotargeting, 360-character alerts, embedded references, and silent alerts. This rule change will become effective September 15, 2025.
The Commission also adopted a FNPRM, which seeks comment on additional ways to reduce the number of consumers opting out of WEA. Comments on this FNPRM will be due April 17, 2025, and reply comments will be due May 19, 2025.
