Recent events point to the importance of 911 and public safety answering points, and the risk of cyberthreats, said FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief David Simpson Friday at a meeting of the Task Force on Optimal PSAP Architecture. TFOPA is preparing a follow up to its report released earlier this year on how to speed the U.S. transition to next-generation 911 (see 1601290051). TFOPA has done a lot of work and has lots more to do, Simpson said.
The FCC should launch a rulemaking on creating a Class C4 FM allocation, Commissioner Ajit Pai said Thursday in a speech at the 2016 Radio Show, prepared remarks show. “Class C4 FM stations would have more power than Class A FM stations but less power than Class C3 FM stations.” A C4 allocation would allow hundreds of Class A FM stations to upgrade to Class C4 FM stations, Pai said. “They could broadcast with increased power and provide service to more Americans so long as they didn’t impact the existing service contours of other stations.” The FCC received positive feedback on the idea and the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council supports it, Pai said. “An NPRM would allow us to ask the right questions, explore the advantages and disadvantages of the proposal, and receive the views of all stakeholders.” Pai also urged the wireless industry to expand the activation of FM chips in smartphones. The Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council recommended activated FM chips as a way to further disseminate emergency alert system messages, Pai noted. “I wholeheartedly support CSRIC’s recommendation and will continue to urge the wireless industry to activate FM chips in smartphones.” Pai also praised FCC efforts to open windows for FM translators, saying it received 671 applications and granted 624 during the first window. In the ongoing second window, the commission received 268 applications and granted 200 of them, Pai said. Pai also said he would push for the FCC to take up more aspects of the AM revitalization proposal in 2017.
CTIA is raising concerns about the FCC’s proposed new rules for wireless emergency alerts, saying the agency must give industry ample time to adapt to any rule change. Commissioners vote on revised WEA rules at their Sept. 29 meeting (see 1609080083). Industry objections are raising at least some concerns among the commissioners, though it's unclear how much the rules will be tweaked before next week’s vote, agency and industry officials told us.
The New York Police Department’s unprecedented use Monday of a 90-character Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) to help catch suspect Ahmad Khan Rahami in connection with the weekend’s New York and New Jersey bombings typified how “new technology can be utilized to improve public alerting,” said John Lawson, executive director of the AWARN Alliance, in a Wednesday statement.
Despite Ligado assurances its terrestrial low-power service plans, with proper protection zones, won't cause interference to National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration downlinks sharing the same spectrum, NOAA said interference problems it has from Ligado operations (see 1608120033) demonstrate otherwise. "Nothing Ligado has done or shown ... has changed our view," said NOAA Chief Information Officer Zach Goldstein told us. On whether sharing is possible at all in the 1675-1680 MHz band, he said, “We don't know. We don't have a technical solution as we stand here today -- that doesn't mean we can't develop one.”
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved reports aimed at improving emergency communications in the U.S. Wednesday's meeting was the current CSRIC’s sixth. The FCC is to take up changes to rules for wireless emergency alerts (WEA) at the Sept. 29 commissioner meeting (see 1609080083). None of the reports approved Wednesday was immediately available.
The stage is set for the Sept. 28 nationwide test of the emergency alert system to go smoothly, said broadcasters, the FCC, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and EAS test industry officials in interviews this week. Designed to address the shortcomings revealed by the 2011 test (see 1607180062), the 2016 version is expected to be successful, broadcast industry officials and the government agencies that oversee EAS told us. Checking those expectations is why such tests are conducted, said Maine Association of Broadcasters CEO Suzanne Goucher, who chairs the Joint NAB-National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations EAS Committee.
The FCC will consider this month whether to set new rules limiting most-favored-nation (MFN) and alternative distribution method (ADM) provisions in program carriage agreements. The tentative agenda released Thursday for its Sept. 29 meeting includes consideration of an NPRM on independent and diverse programming. In a blog post Thursday, Chairman Tom Wheeler said the MFN and ADM prohibitions are meant to promote "the availability of diverse and independent programming from which to choose."
Much work remains as industry deals with a possible earthquake early warning system (EEWS), the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions said in a letter responding to questions from the FCC Public Safety Bureau. For example, the bureau asked if earthquake warnings could be given special priority. “ATIS believes any discussion on prioritization in the EEWS is premature until the architecture is defined,” the letter said. “The industry continues to work with stakeholders, including state agencies, the U.S. Geological Survey, and academic institutions, to identify and define the architecture that can satisfy EEWS-specific requirements.” The wireless industry in general argued when the FCC sought comment (see 1605100054) that wireless emergency alerts aren’t suitable for earthquake warnings. The ATIS letter was posted in docket 16-32.
The new version of the FCC emergency alert system handbook requires much work from broadcasters and contains few instructions, said Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Harry Cole in a blog post. Though the Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council said the old version contained inaccurate instructions, the new one “seems to avoid those problems by opting not to provide instructions in the first place,” Cole said. The handbook is filled with blank spaces and is “more of a do-it-yourself effort than an FCC-provided regulatory roadmap.” Cole said. Calling the book a “tabula rasa,” he also said it isn't set up for onscreen completion and could require a typewriter to complete. Broadcasters have until Sept. 28 (see 1608190037) to have the handbook “located at normal duty positions or EAS equipment locations when an operator is required to be on duty and be immediately available to staff responsible for administering EAS tests,” Cole noted. Tabula rasa is a Latin term meaning "blank slate."