The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved a report Wednesday that warned vulnerabilities in 4G networks could carry over into a 5G world. The report was developed by the Managing Security Risk in the Transition to 5G Working Group and is expected to be posted by the FCC Thursday, officials said. CSRIC also got an additional charge from the FCC to look at duplicative weather alerts. The group met virtually for the second time because of COVID-19.
A petition asking the FCC to change the rules for the signals FM boosters are allowed to transmit to make geotargeted radio ads and content possible is widely supported and considered a likely candidate for eventual FCC approval, said broadcasters and their lawyers in recent interviews. Some big broadcasters have concerns, but that may not derail the whole proceeding, stakeholders said.
An FCC order harmonizing emergency alert system test requirements for satellite digital audio radio service providers with those for direct broadcast satellite providers takes effect June 19, said Wednesday’s Federal Register. The order also partially grants a petition for reconsideration of the 2005 EAS rules.
The FCC should quickly convene radio industry leaders before the June 1 start of the 2020 hurricane season and ask them to pledge that stations will provide multilingual emergency information during the risky period, said the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and League of United Latin American Citizens in a joint letter to the FCC Tuesday. The start of storm season will force “coastal residents who must observe a COVID-19 stay-at-home order, and also a pre-hurricane evacuation order, to choose whether to risk death from sickness or whether to risk death from a hurricane,” they said. MMTC and LULAC want the FCC to encourage radio stations to adopt the “designated hitter” system the organizations pushed in the past (see 1906280054), where one outlet agrees to provide multilingual emergency content for an affected region. “Already it is becoming clear that by far the greatest impact of COVID-19 will be felt by multicultural communities,” the groups said. The FCC could provide an incentive by granting stations that volunteer as designated hitters an eight-year break on regulatory fees, the groups said.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau’s report Tuesday on the 2019 nationwide emergency alert system test shows the test’s largest problem was a failure to retransmit by the source stations that are monitored by other broadcasters (see 1908070074). The simulation “was successful in that it demonstrated that the nationwide broadcast-based EAS distribution system would largely perform as designed, if activated without the availability of the Internet” but also revealed some deficiencies, the report said. More than 2,600 test participants, 13.3%, reported they didn't receive a signal from their monitored sources, the report said. FCC staff found many participants included incorrect information in their filings to the emergency test reporting system, with hundreds of broadcasters giving the wrong EAS designation for their stations. The report showed participation in the test slightly increased to 78.6% from 76.3% in 2018. Radio broadcaster participation improved to 82% from 78.7% and TV increased to 68.2% from 65.5%. Participation by cable systems, IPTV and wireline video systems fell to 73.4% from 76.4%. The report also laid out the bureau's plans to address issues with the test, such as encouraging EAS participants to monitor multiple sources to reduce failures. Due to the complications with monitoring assignments and inaccurate reporting, the bureau will “engage in further analysis of the 2019 test performance” and state EAS plans, the report said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is also taking steps to improve the test, the document said. “To ensure more accurate origination of national messages, FEMA intends to review and update its alert origination procedures, as well as conduct additional testing.”
Some want more clarity about the FCC's role regulating broadband, said comments posted through Tuesday. The agency asked to refresh dockets including 17-287, on how broadband service's reclassification as an information, not telecom, service affects authority over Lifeline, pole attachment agreements and public safety. Commenters disagreed whether the FCC should reconsider based on the public safety considerations.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau proposed a $20,000 fine against Entercom over WNEW(FM) New York using emergency alert system tones in a skit on Oct. 3, 2018, the day of the nationwide test of the EAS and wireless emergency alert systems. The company admitted to airing a one-second recording of the EAS attention signal on WNEW’s Karen & Jeffrey morning show, said Tuesday's notice of apparent liability. The length doesn’t alter the violation, the NAL said. More extensive use of EAS tones was cut in favor of the shorter clip after the show’s host and station program director reviewed the skit, the NAL said. The proposed fine was adjusted upward because of WNEW’s considerable reach. The broadcast company didn't comment.
The House Communications Subcommittee advanced the Clearing Broad Airwaves for New Deployment (C-Band) Act (HR-4855) and 10 other measures Tuesday on voice votes, as expected (see 2003090070). The timeline for the House Commerce Committee to mark up any of those measures remains uncertain, because of negotiations aimed at reaching a bipartisan deal on HR-4855 and other measures that have gotten GOP pushback and broader questions about Congress’ schedule given the spread of coronavirus.
House Commerce Committee ranking member Greg Walden of Oregon and some other Communications Subcommittee Republicans appeared hesitant during a Thursday hearing to support swift advancement of the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926) or other resiliency bills. There was more widespread support by lawmakers and witnesses for the Fee Integrity and Responsibilities and To Regain Essential Spectrum for Public-safety Operators Needed to Deploy Equipment Reliably (First Responders) Act (HR-5928) and other measures.
House Communications Subcommittee leaders are eyeing an early March markup for the Reinforcing and Evaluating Service Integrity, Local Infrastructure and Emergency Notification for Today’s (Resilient) Networks Act (HR-5926) and at least some of the seven other public safety communications measures it will examine Thursday (see 2002200060), industry lobbyists told us. Communications and public safety stakeholders endorsed several of the measures in written testimony. HR-5926 didn’t get universal praise. The hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn.