The FCC will postpone by a half year the deadline for broadcasters and cable operators to be able to pass along emergency alerts using new standards from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said commission and industry officials. The deadline to implement Common Alerting Protocol at radio and TV stations and cable systems is 180 days after FEMA finalized CAP, which was Sept. 30, putting the deadline at the end of March. A draft FCC order likely to be finalized soon extends the time to Sept. 30, 2011, agency and industry officials said. The delay had been expected (CD Oct 5 p1).
The FCC proposed to fine KANR(FM) Belle Plaine, Kan., $25,000 for not keeping up emergency alert system equipment and a public inspection file, and for other alleged violations, said an Enforcement Bureau notice of apparent liability released Wednesday.
Those lobbying the FCC would get more time to report most conversations in ex parte filings, which would need to have more details than some do now, under a draft order awaiting commissioner approval, agency officials said. They said the order sticks mainly sticks to what was proposed in a rulemaking notice on ex partes approved by commissioners in February. A twist is that the draft contains a rulemaking notice to seek further comment on the disclosure of financial ties to companies, groups and others lobbying the FCC, said agency officials. That subject isn’t now part of the draft order’s provisions, they said.
Two AM stations in Tennessee were fined a total of $9,000 Wednesday by the FCC for not surrounding their antennas with locked fences or making available public inspection files at their main studios, according to Enforcement Bureau forfeiture orders. They went to WEPG South Pittsburg and WSDQ Dunlap, which also was fined for not keeping up emergency alert system equipment.
Cable and broadcasters have a hard time agreeing on anything, giving special force to a request they made Thursday asking the FCC to delay by at least six months a deadline for coming up with a standard for an emergency alert system, a lawyer representing TV stations said. “I can’t recall any prior issue inspiring such unanimity among this diverse group of participants, and that should provide an indication of the seriousness with which they view the upcoming task,” wrote Scott Flick on the blog of Pillsbury Winthrop. “It would be a shame to not see the full benefits of” the Common Alerting Protocol standard realized by a rush to implement it, he added. Forty-six state broadcast associations joined the NAB, NCTA, NPR, PBS and others in making the petition (CD Oct 22 p10).
New partners at Patton Boggs technology and communications practice: Matthew Berry, recently hired by the firm, and Robert Quicksilver, ex-Tidal TV … Monroe Electronics names Edward Czarnecki, co-founder of EAS-CAP Industry Group, director of strategy and regulatory affairs, guiding the company’s emergency alert system strategies … Jon Nesvig retiring at year-end as Fox Broadcasting president of sales … Panasonic Solutions names David Nicholas, ex-Cheetah Technologies, to lead its cable group as vice president.
The FCC should push off at least six months a March 29 deadline by which companies must be able to receive Common Alerting Protocol emergency alert system warnings, associations including the NCTA, American Cable Association, Society of Broadcast Engineers, Association for Maximum Service Television, NPR, Association of Public Television Stations, PBS, NAB and 46 state broadcast associations said in a petition. The commission should at least hold the deadline in abeyance until it completes its own CAP-related equipment certification process and finishes a pending rulemaking on changes to Part 11 of its rules to reflect CAP implementation per the Communications Security Reliability and Interoperability Council’s recommendation, the petition said. While deadlines often are needed to spur desired conduct, new uncertainties have come up related to CAP and EAS since the commission adopted the March 29 deadline, the petition said. “EAS participants still lack basic, needed information as to whether the FCC will institute its own CAP-compliance certification process, how long such a process will take and how long it will take the commission to complete its CAP-related rulemaking.” FCC and industry officials expect the agency to extend the deadline after getting a request for a delay (CD Oct 5 p1).
The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions said it completed a standard enabling Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) broadcasts over LTE networks. “LTE is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in the communications ecosystem, particularly in the area of emergency communications,” ATIS said. “To address this reality, this recently developed standard -- when fully implemented -- will allow LTE-enabled devices to receive CMAS alerts during emergencies or natural disasters."
Sending emergency alerts to devices equipped with FM receivers and Alert FM software is an effective way to distribute emergency alerts, the service’s provider Global Security Systems said citing a federally funded study conducted by Northrop Grumman. The study monitored how the Alert FM system performed on a college campus, in a multi-county region and a larger area, using the Common Alerting Protocol requirements, GSS said. The Alert FM software takes data embedded in the FM signal using Radio Broadcast Data Service to deliver up to a 240-character text message to electronic devices equipped with the software and receiver.
The FCC appears likely to extend an emergency alerting deadline for cable systems and radio and TV stations to start using a newly released warning standard made public last week by FEMA (CD Oct 1 p12) after several delays of its own, commission and industry officials predicted. Under current FCC rules, broadcasters and cable operators must certify compliance with Common Alerting Protocol 180 days after the standard was released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency last Thursday. The regulator seems poised to delay that deadline, perhaps for several months and either for all who would be subject to CAP compliance or for those licensees who say they can’t meet the deadline, FCC and industry officials said.