Adding three emergency alert system (EAS) event codes to the National Weather Service's dissemination suite will require a factory software update, Monroe Electronics said in an ex parte notice in docket 04-296 Friday. It said it was responding to a request from the Public Safety Bureau. The NWS requested additional EAS event codes and changes to marine areas, said the company. “The sheer scale of deployment of this EAS equipment will require substantial lead time to fully implement any changes to geocodes (FIPS) [Federal Information Processing Standards] or event codes.” If the FCC approves these event codes or changes, Monroe Electronics will need to release a factory update for its four FCC EAS compliance products, and users will need to download the update from Monroe’s site and apply it to each EAS device, said the EAS equipment maker.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau denied R.J.'s Late Night Entertainment's (RJLNE) petition for reconsideration of a forfeiture order of $22,000, the bureau said in an order Monday. The bureau fined RJLNE for failing to maintain operational emergency alert system equipment, for its FM transmitter from its authorized location and make its public inspection file available, in violation of FCC rule sections 11.35, 73.1690 and 73.3527, the bureau said. Payment is due within 30 days of the order's release. RJLNE didn't comment.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau fined Univision $20,000 for misusing emergency alert system tones during its Jan. 28, 2014, episode of the Luis Jimenez Show on WXNY(FM) New York, in an order released Friday. The station played EAS tones several times during a comedy sketch "in the absence of an actual emergency or authorized test of the EAS," in violation of Communications Act Section 325, the bureau said. Univision Local Media and the bureau entered into a consent decree stating that Univision will pay the $20,000 civil penalty within 30 days and implement a three-year compliance training program on EAS laws, the bureau said. Univision declined to comment. On Jan. 20, the FCC fined Viacom $1.12 million and ESPN $280,000 in a forfeiture order for using EAS tones for promoting the movie Olympus Has Fallen (see 1501200068).
The FCC fined Viacom and ESPN $1.4 million total for using emergency alert system (EAS) warning tones for a nonemergency, said a forfeiture order Tuesday that was approved by commissioners. Viacom was fined $1.12 million and ESPN $280,000. In 2013, Viacom and ESPN used EAS warning tones to promote the movie Olympus Has Fallen, violating the Communications Act, the commission said. The commission rejected ESPN's and Viacom's requests to reduce their fines. The fines must be paid in 30 days, the order said. "The enforcement action and fine were unwarranted" and Viacom is "considering our next steps," said a company spokesman. ESPN had no immediate comment.
Verizon used the North American International Auto Show to announce a retrofit connected-vehicle service called Verizon Vehicle that will be available this spring to more than 200 million older cars (1996 and later) regardless of the user’s wireless carrier. The subscription-based service will launch in Q2 and offer drivers GPS-directed roadside assistance; automatic urgent incident alerts to a Verizon member care center in case of an accident; one-button connection to a live agent in case of emergency; an “auto health system” with predictive diagnostics to translate messages such as “check engine”; a mechanic’s hotline for immediate assistance; parking and meter tools to help drivers locate a vehicle and keep tabs on time left on a meter; maintenance alerts; and stolen vehicle location assistance, Verizon said Tuesday. The subscription-based service operates through an OBD (on-board diagnostics) reader that can mount in a vehicle’s under-dash diagnostic port, a Bluetooth-enabled speaker that attaches to the visor and a free smartphone app. Subscribers can choose to use the app or have the service contact them -- by phone, text, push notification or email -- if a problem is detected with the vehicle, Verizon said. The speaker offers one-button push connection to the member care group, the mechanics hotline and roadside assistance -- as well as a second button for SOS emergency situations, Verizon said. Subscriptions are $14.99 monthly with a two-year contract, and equipment is included in the subscription price, it said. Verizon is offering the first month of service for free with pre-orders, it said.
A circulating draft NPRM on broadening the FCC definition of a multichannel video programming distributor to include online video distributors is being held back by the chairman’s office as part of an effort to reach consensus with the Republican commissioners, officials at the agency including on its eighth floor told us. Chairman Tom Wheeler said at Thursday’s FCC meeting that a vote on the item would happen before the week was out (see 1412110069), but the vote was delayed, the officials said. The item already has enough votes from the FCC’s Democrats to pass, said the officials.
Ford launched Sync 3 in-vehicle entertainment and communications system Thursday, promising faster performance, more “conversational” voice recognition, an intuitive touch screen similar to that of a smartphone and a simplified graphical interface. The company said it drew from 22,000 customer comments and suggestions in creating the third-generation platform, along with information from focus groups, surveys and competitive analysis. The system is optimized for hands-free operation, but the new touch screen delivers an experience similar to using a smartphone or tablet with gestures including pinch-to-zoom and swipe, it said. The display offers a bright background and large buttons with “high-contrast fonts” for daytime use, and at night it switches automatically to a dark background to help reduce eye fatigue and minimize reflections, Ford said. To reduce on-screen complexity, the home screen offers a choice of zones, navigation, audio and phone, and the system prioritizes the control options customers use most, the company said. Phone contacts are searchable via a finger swipe, and users can look up points of interest or addresses with a search box. The new voice recognition system cuts down on the number of steps required to carry out a command, Ford said. A user can name a song, artist, album or genre to bring up a song from a connected smartphone, no longer having to identify a category, the company said, and to switch to SiriusXM or terrestrial radio, users say the name of the station or station number. New features in AppLink enable users to control compatible apps using voice commands or buttons on screen, and AppLink automatically discovers streaming music service apps such as iHeartRadio Auto, NPR One, Pandora, Spotify, SiriusXM and Stitcher, Ford said. In the case of a "significant' accident, a Bluetooth-connected phone is used to dial 911, alerting first-responders to the vehicle’s location. With Sync 3, additional information is relayed, including if airbags were deployed, where damage occurred to the vehicle and the number of safety belts detected in use to help emergency call takers dispatch the appropriate resources to the scene, Ford said.
Emergency alert system participants weighed in on potential solutions to the security and improved function of the EAS process following unauthorized use of an EAS alert during The Bobby Bones Show on AT&T U-verse this year (see 1411100038). AT&T supported use of a year field in the time stamp, and NAB backed an industrywide effort to achieve better authentication of EAS alerts. The comments came last week in docket 14-200. Replies are due Dec. 19, and comments on a public notice concerning EAS security best practices are due Dec. 30.
The Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council approved a report Wednesday from CSRIC Working Group 2 on wireless emergency alerts that recommends the FCC modify its current 90-character limit rule for WEA alerts, to allow for messages of up to 280 characters for 4G LTE devices following technology confirmation by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS). The FCC should retain the 90-character rule for WEA alerts for devices using legacy 2G and 3G networks, but the working group believes the goal should be to phase that limit out as 2G and 3G devices go offline, said CTIA Assistant Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Brian Josef, Working Group 2 co-chairman. “We’re raising the floor” but recognize that some devices will be able to accept WEA alerts of only up to 90 characters, Josef said during the CSRIC meeting.
The FCC Public Safety Bureau granted several media entities temporary waivers from installing operational equipment that can receive and process emergency alert system alerts formatted in the Common Alerting Protocol. Citizens Telephone Co., CMA Communications, JB Cable TV and other entities were granted waivers, while the bureau dismissed waiver petitions filed by Allegiance Communications and James Cable, it said in an order. Granting waivers to some of the petitioners “is justified in light of their underlying circumstances,” it said. The small cable systems covered by the Allegiance and James Cable petitions were bought by Vyve, “which has filed its own waiver requests covering these systems,” the bureau said. The bureau also granted similar waivers to Charter Communications, Comcast, Kenai Broadcasting and other petitioners, it said in another order. The petitioners continued to operate legacy EAS equipment at all times, “thus, the public was not deprived of EAS alerts,” it said.