The Assn. of Public TV Stations -- which recently completed digital emergency alert system (DEAS) trials with the Dept. of Homeland Security -- urged Congress to pass the Warn Act to ensure a “reliable” system that would avoid communications bottlenecks from last year’s natural disasters. The trials demonstrated that public TV stations could act as a wireless network capable of datacasting public alert and warnings, it said. APTS is planning a national rollout of DEAS soon. The Warn Act, which passed the Senate Commerce Committee, helps deal with communications problems exposed during Hurricane Katrina by establishing a national alert system that can provide national, regional or local alerts, APTS said. The measure recognizes public TV’s digital transmitters as the backbone for the reception, relay and retransmission of national alert system messages, said APTS Pres. John Lawson. The APTS-DHS pilots showed that digital broadcasting to media and telecom service providers “improves and enhances” the ability of federal, state and local govts. to provide critical emergency messages, he said.
The Govt. Emergency Telecom Service (GETS) has gained barely more than 100,000 takers since going operational in Sept. 2001, Program Dir. John Graves said. That number isn’t “very much” for a population of 300 million, he said, and for “a population of emergency communities of well over one million it’s not very many either.” The numbers haven’t gone up despite a “great deal of time and money” spent promoting the service to police and fire departments and others involved in critical infrastructure maintenance and protection, Graves told us. GETS and the integrated Wireless Priority Service (WPS) are generally open to federal, state and local govt., but broadcasters and others involved in national security and emergency preparedness are also eligible. PBS and other broadcasters have sought GETS status, according to officials.
A House committee passed a bill that would create the position of emergency communications chief, responsible for making public safety networks interoperable. The measure, passed unanimously by the House Homeland Security Committee Wed., would “elevate the importance of emergency communications” in the Homeland Security Dept. and require DHS, through the new Asst. Secy. for Emergency Communications, to set up a plan to achieve “redundant, sustainable and interoperable emergency communications systems.”
Communications networks taken down in Hurricane Katrina didn’t succumb to wind and rain but floods and power outages, according to the FCC’s Hurricane Katrina Independent Panel. The body, poised to summarize its 5 months of work in a report due June 15, will tell the Commission a commonly heard analysis: That things really weren’t that bad -- until the levees broke.
Public broadcasters in the Gulf states have better disaster recovery plans as they brace for what’s predicted to be another destructive storm season, our inquiries show. “We are pretty well positioned, and we have a good plan in place,” said Beth Courtney, pres. of La. Public Bcstg. (LPB), a state network running 9 stations. But plans can go awry, Courtney warned. A lesson of Katrina is that stations should have fuel to run generators for days, PBS Senior Vp- Technology & Operations Edward Caleca said. Some PBS stations installed larger fuel tanks; others have “identified alternate fuel cells,” he added.
AT&T won victories in Conn. and Okla. in efforts to escape local franchising requirements for its IP-based video services. Conn. regulators and the Okla. Attorney General concluded AT&T doesn’t need to obtain video franchises to provide Internet-based video services over its phone lines in their states.
Public broadcasters lauded changes adopted last week by the CPB board to the corporation’s governance and operations (CD May 2 p3). “We applaud them for their continued steps to increase transparency and reform their operations,” said Assn. of Public TV Stations Pres. John Lawson: “It appears they are really committed to correcting some of the inappropriate actions of the past.” Commending board efforts to “ensure greater transparency and implement best practices,” PBS Vp Lea Sloan praised Pres. Pat Harrison’s “call for clarity and accountability in all aspects of the organization.”
The FCC fined WWCB(AM) Corry, Pa., $8,000 for violating emergency alert system rules by not having adequate gear for the service. Corry Communications has 20 days to pay the penalty or it may face court action, said the forfeiture order.
DirecTV Latin America (DTVLA) opposed a petition by SES Americom, Intelsat and PanAmSat for partial reconsideration of the FCC’s emergency alert system (EAS) overhaul. Fixed satellite services operators should “be ultimately answerable to the Commission for EAS compliance,” DTVLA said. The FCC has no direct jurisdiction over programmers it doesn’t license or those leasing satellite capacity from FSS carriers, DTVLA said. It would be easier to enforce EAS rules via direct regulation of FSS licensees, they said. “The FCC has more information about the ownership and activities of licensees than it does about non-licensee programmers, and it has a wider range of enforcement options over those it directly regulates to ensure compliance,” DTVLA said. FSS licensees should bear ultimate responsibility for complying with FCC requirements, it said.
The European Parliament likely will urge govts. and telcos to speed work on a pan-European system intended to deliver emergency services automatic alerts of vehicle accidents. The “eCall” proposal is part of a move by the European Commission to use data and communications tools to boost road safety. After a debate at today’s (Thurs.) plenary session, lawmakers are expected to approve a road map to put the technology in new vehicles beginning in Sept. 2009.