COLORADO, USA —
In the decade since its launch, the federal Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system has developed new technology to make alerts more detailed, geographically precise and accessible in Spanish. But many older phones don’t have the new capabilities.
The newest version of WEA, dubbed WEA 3.0, launched in November 2019. Phones built with that capability can receive AMBER Alerts and other emergency notifications geo-targeted to them within 1/10th of a mile. Older phones would be geo-targeted with less precision.
At the same time, the FCC launched WEA 2.0, which allowed messages to be sent in both English and Spanish. It also expanded the character limit on messages from 90 to 360 characters, enabling emergency managers to craft more detailed alerts.
Unlike apps or a phone’s operating system, WEA capabilities cannot be updated. You’re stuck with the version available when your phone was built.
As of 2022, an estimated 60% of active smartphones are WEA 3.0 capable, according to industry trade group CTIA.
In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in 2022, emergency managers from several counties across Colorado’s Front Range asked the FCC to find ways to update older WEA technology or encourage owners of older phones to upgrade.
“It is important that we break the cycle of waiting for consumers to upgrade to new handsets to fully implement new capabilities in WEA,” they wrote. “This may become more important in the future as consumers are slower to replace handsets and technology lifecycles expand.”
Your phone won’t indicate which level of WEA you can access. Instead, look to your cell carrier’s website for a list of phones and their capabilities.
Here’s where to find that information for each carrier:
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Wildfires in Colorado
