The FCC Public Safety Bureau directed entities subject to emergency alert system rules to submit their annual form one filings for calendar year 2022 in the online EAS test reporting system no later than Feb. 28. The FCC said Thursday it plans to open the reporting window Jan. 3.
The FCC’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved three working group reports Thursday on making networks more secure, including open radio access networks, at its final meeting of the year. CSRIC approved two other reports in September (see 2209210074). The meeting was supposed to be partially in-person, for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the FCC made it virtual because of an expected ice storm.
Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., urged the FCC to “seriously consider the concerns raised by respondents about a GeoBroadcast Solutions’ proposal to modify the commission’s FM booster rules to allow geotargeted ZoneCasting radio broadcasts “and work to address and resolve them to the satisfaction of all parties before any modification” occurs. A dozen House Commerce Committee members (see 2210050058) and Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., also wrote the FCC with concerns about the ZoneCasting proposal. ZoneCasting “would allow radio stations to geotarget programming, including emergency alerts, news, and advertising, to different areas and communities,” Van Hollen said in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that NAB released Wednesday. “Because radio stations operate under licenses that require them to broadcast to a specific geographic area, ZoneCasting would create a new regime where advertisers and stations could pick and choose who hears different types of information and solicitations. And because most radio play occurs while listeners are traveling by car, with ZoneCasting, listeners could hear varying content as they drove around a single region, for example, through Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, as many do regularly during a single trip.” Opponents have warned the FCC in comments “that the hyper-targeted messaging ZoneCasting enables could reduce the effectiveness of emergency alert systems, exacerbate racial inequity by restricting content and advertising, and undermine the overall economic ecosystem of the broadcast industry, specifically disadvantaging small and minority-owned radio stations,” Van Hollen said: “The limited testing of the technology, which has led to uncertainty about the degree of disruption to listeners and stations from signal interference, is also noteworthy. Despite the voluntary nature of the proposed change, this new technology would be an added expense for radio stations to acquire and maintain.” The FCC didn’t comment.
Comments are due Dec. 23, replies Jan. 23, on an NPRM FCC commissioners approved in October proposing new rules to make the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts more secure (see 2210270058). The comment dates followed publication of a summary of the notice Wednesday in the Federal Register.
Ten years after the launch of wireless emergency alerts, WEAs have become a critical part of providing warnings to the public, officials said Thursday during an FCBA webinar. Speakers said WEAs have made progress since the false missile alert that created panic in Hawaii in early 2018 (see 1801160054 and 1803160042). Last month, FCC commissioners approved 4-0 an NPRM proposing new rules to make the emergency alert system and WEAs more secure (see 2210270058).
Changes to improve the accessibility and clarity of emergency alert system messages will take effect Dec. 12, said a notice for Thursday's Federal Register. The rule prioritizes internet-based common alerting protocol versions of EAS, which provide more fulsome alert text (see 2209290017).
The FCC activated the disaster information reporting system for 34 counties in Florida for Tropical Storm Nicole, said a public notice Wednesday. Reports are due starting Thursday. The alert includes Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, the state’s three most populated. The agency also issued public notices on emergency contact procedures for licensees that need special temporary authority, priority communications services, and on 24-hour availability of FCC staff. The Public Safety Bureau sent a reminder to entities working to clear debris and repair utilities to avoid damaging communications infrastructure.
Low-power TV stations should be able to use to internet-based common alerting protocol (CAP) to send emergency alerts without “an expensive and outdated” emergency alert system box, said the LPTV Broadcasters Association in an email to members Friday. LPTV broadcasters “are told they are ‘primary’ to our viewers for EAS, our viewers depend on us for this information. Yet in just about every other situation, we are sternly reminded that we are of ‘secondary’ status,” said the email, which said broadcasters should give the association “input to move forward with a plan for LPTV that makes sense and serves the public with even more safety information than currently available.” The FCC’s recent cybersecurity NPRM cited results from the 2021 nationwide EAS test that showed low rates of participation among low-power radio and TV broadcasters and suggested that failure to maintain EAS equipment by some participants could be a security threat (see 2210270058). “There should be no reason that LPTV stations cannot solely use CAPS without a box,” said the LPTV Broadcasters Association. “It is our understanding that the National Weather Service does not integrate with CAPS, but they have other even more robust digital outputs that can be used. It’s time to bring this together.”
The FCC appears to be ramping up its focus on cybersecurity, starting with “a broad-reaching inquiry into the vulnerabilities threatening the security and integrity of the Border Gateway Protocol” earlier this year, said an analysis by Hogan Lovells lawyers Monday. They also cited an NPRM approved last week that proposes new rules to make the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts more secure. “FCC observers are … watching the FCC’s increased focus on cybersecurity for signs of whether it may extend the sorts of critical infrastructure regulations that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is developing for other industries into the telecommunications space as well,” the lawyers said: “The proposed rule regarding EAS and WEA may provide a clue on that question.” They said that, in comments on the NPRM, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks “notes approvingly that the proposed rule aligns the timeframe for cyber incident reporting with the timeframe found in the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA), which CISA is administering, and argues that the FCC’s ‘actions must be within the larger whole-of-government approach to protect our nation’s networks and infrastructure.’”
The FCC approved 4-0 Thursday an NPRM that proposes new rules to make the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts more secure. Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the rulemaking is one part of the FCC’s current focus on making systems more secure. FCC officials said, as expected (see 2210250057), there were only minor changes over what Rosenworcel proposed, FCC officials said.