The FCC should give an additional six months, until Jan. 31, before it requires cable systems to be capable of retransmitting a national periodic test (NPT) event code, NCTA said in a petition for a limited waiver in docket 04-296 Monday. The agency's 2015 emergency alert system order specified the NPT event code as the test code for national EAS testing and said that by July 30 all EAS equipment must be capable of immediately retransmitting the NPT event code (see 1506040056). "This turned out to be a more daunting challenge than the industry anticipated or the Commission envisioned," NCTA said, pointing to remaining challenges of modifying IP infrastructure for delivering EAS alerts, upgrading legacy program guide systems and modifying legacy encoders and decoders. NCTA said cable operators plan to use the extra six months for finishing software and firmware testing and for purchasing and installation of new equipment.
An FCC draft order on creating new emergency alert system codes was withdrawn from the commissioner meeting agenda Friday morning. An agency spokesman told us it’s expected to be adopted “soon.” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said he hadn't voted on the item when it was unexpectedly pulled because of its “horrible” cost-benefit analysis. The item, which would create specific EAS codes for high winds and storm surges, wasn't expected to be controversial (see 1606220063).
An FCC advisory committee voted unanimously in favor of reports on an updated emergency alert system handbook and enhanced coordination for submarine cables, at a meeting Wednesday of the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC). The FCC meanwhile is to vote next month on an EAS order (see 1606220063).
A draft order that would allow broadcasters to use three new emergency alert system codes to communicate specific storm threats is expected to be unanimously approved by the FCC Friday, said industry and agency officials in interviews this week. The EAS item is seen as uncontroversial, and though some broadcasters may not possess equipment capable of transmitting the new codes, their use is expected to be voluntary, industry officials told us. Historically, the use of new EAS codes has been up to broadcasters, said Monroe Electronics Senior Director-Strategy and Government Affairs Ed Czarnecki.
Under a “speakeasy” theme, Pepcom’s Digital Experience news-media event last week in New York featured IoT technologies from a range of companies. Among those was EchoStar's Hughes, showing its first connected home product. The Sage by Hughes security and smart home system, launched at CES 2015, hit stores in early March. Sage is in a “slow rollout,” a company spokeswoman told us. It was designed to be do it yourself and is available from www.sagebyhughes.com, she said. The hub communicates with ZigBee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices to give the product a “long road map,” said the spokeswoman. It has a 911 feature that directly links customers upon alert to their home's emergency call center regardless of the homeowner's location. Other companies at Thursday's event were Savant and Uber.
The FCC must address the needs of 6 million disabled Americans who don’t have broadband, Commissioner Mignon Clyburn told the FCC Disability Advisory Committee Thursday. Separately, the DAC approved recommendations on emergency alerts to wireless devices, after what a DAC member said was a vigorous debate.
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council will meet at 1 p.m. June 22 in the Commission Meeting Room at commission HQ, the agency said in a notice Monday. It said the CSRIC is to vote on reports on the emergency alert system, submarine cable resiliency, network timing, cybersecurity information sharing and the priority services framework.
The winners of the FCC chairman's fifth annual Awards for Advancement in Accessibility were announced Monday by Tom Wheeler. The awards honor innovations in communications technology that benefit persons with disabilities, said a commission release. “We can use today’s technologies to address so many of the communications barriers facing Americans with disabilities,” said Wheeler. “These innovative efforts help us move forward as a nation toward more accessible technologies.” The release said the six honorees were: SOS QR, an emergency record and alert notification app for people with cognitive disabilities; UnusTactus, an app for people with cognitive disabilities meant to simplify smartphone access; a Texas A&M wearable sign-language recognition system prototype; a Disney Movies Anywhere app for iOS devices that includes a sync function allowing users to access audio descriptions for a movie in progress; a Sesame Enable project that provides smartphones with modified Android OS installations for users who can't control smartphones with their hands; and an eSight Eyewear headset with a videocam to help people with low vision. The six winners and three recipients of honorable mention citations were being recognized Monday at a ceremony at the M-Enabling Summit in Arlington, Virginia.
An FCC-proposed rule change to lower skywave protections for Class A AM stations could limit the reach of presidential emergency alerts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Integrated Public Alert Warning System Program Management Office commented in a filing posted Thursday in docket 15-91. Presidential messages are intended for use during massive, nationwide disasters. The proposal to lower skywave protections is part of the FCC's AM revitalization rulemaking. It would create “extended areas where stations with which FEMA does not have direct communications pathways may cause interference” to currently protected radio broadcasts, that agency said. The protected stations are usually larger, and the FCC proposal is seen as making it easier for smaller AM stations to sustain their business model. The smaller stations “most likely depend on a relay of the Presidential message” from other stations, FEMA IPAWS PMO said. The FCC proposal would lower the number of stations that receive presidential alerts directly from FEMA, the filing said. “Due to this newly proposed interference, the reach of a Presidential message at a critical time would be diminished. FEMA urges the FCC not to authorize reduced protection to Class A AM skywave service.” The comments came in an emergency alert system proceeding where industry urged the FCC to go slow with EAS changes (see 1606090070).
FCC attempts to improve the emergency alert system shouldn't lead to additional burdens for EAS participants, said pay-TV carriers and broadcasters in comments posted Wednesday and Thursday in docket 15-94. The American Cable Association, AT&T, NCTA and several state broadcasting associations asked the FCC not to impose increased reporting and certification rules on EAS participants. Other comments focused on wireless alerts, and America's Public Television Stations advocated increased datacasting capabilities. NAB said it's open to improving the EAS system but the FCC should take a hands-off approach to requirements. The “wiser course” is to allow broadcasters to police their own compliance, NAB said.