The Mobile Emergency Alert System (M-EAS) is an information distribution system that utilizes existing digital television spectrum and towers to provide information in emergency situations using rich media. The system can push text, web pages, and video to compatible equipment, such as

mobile DTV Mobile television is television watched on a small handheld or mobile device. It includes service delivered via mobile phone networks, received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations, or via satellite broadcast. Regular broadcast stand ...

devices.TVTechnology: WRAL-TV to Demo Mobile EAS
/ref> M-EAS is different than existing 90-character

Wireless Emergency Alerts Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA, formerly known as the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS), and prior to that as the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN)), is an alerting network in the United States designed to disseminate emergency alert ...

(WEA) available to

cellphones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...

, as it allows video, audio, photos and graphics, too. Proponents of the technology point to modern reliance on mobile communication technologies and failures of the cellular network due to overload, power outage or other emergency-related damage. M-EAS does not rely on the network of cellular towers, instead making use of existing digital television broadcast equipment. M-EAS is being standardized by the

Advanced Television Systems Committee The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) is an international nonprofit organization developing technical standards for digital terrestrial television and data broadcasting. ATSC's 120-plus member organizations represent the broadcast, ...

as part of

ATSC-M/H ATSC-M/H (''Advanced Television Systems Committee - Mobile/Handheld'') is a U.S. standard for mobile digital TV that allows TV broadcasts to be received by mobile devices. ATSC-M/H is a mobile TV extension to preexisting terrestrial TV broadcasti ...

, the mobile digital TV standard.

WRAL-TV WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...

in Raleigh, North Carolina, was the first commercial broadcaster in the United States to demonstrate the system in 2012. A similar system in Japan is credited with saving many lives ahead of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

.Mobile Emergency Alert System Promises Flexible New Option for Emergency Managers and First Responders : PBS
/ref>

References

{{reflist Digital television in the United States 2012 establishments in the United States 2012 introductions