EAS Participants Don't Want Additional Burdens From FCC

Proposals to require annual certification of EAS security “may be unduly burdensome,” NAB said. It and AT&T were critical of a proposed requirement that would assign extremely brief deadlines to EAS participants to research and report false alerts or lockouts of the EAS system by set-top boxes. “We are further concerned that broadcasters will be unable to research, complete and file a report about a false EAS alert within thirty minutes of such an alert,” NAB said. “Fifteen minutes simply is an inadequate amount of time for any entity to file a report at the Commission, let alone one that identifies devices affected by the lockout,” AT&T said. “Lockouts are rare events and if one occurs, affected EAS Participants should spend those first few minutes trying to resolve the lockout, not hastily compiling and submitting some report in order to avoid a penalty for missing the fifteen minute deadline.”

The FCC shouldn't change rules without an involved study that includes stakeholder participation, NCTA said. “Until such comprehensive, future-oriented analysis is done, the current EAS regime should be maintained -- not dramatically reconstituted.” Proposals to standardize the way state EAS plans work are "one size fits all" regulations "on matters which are better left to the states,” said a group of most state broadcast associations. They don't want the FCC to include EAS alerts on social media in state EAS plans. “The unreliability of social media as an alert platform, the large number of people who use social media infrequently or not at all, and the rapid developments in social media technology and applications make these sort of non broadcast/cable platforms unsuitable for inclusion in State EAS Plans,” the broadcasters said.

Comcast objected to proposals to require wireless emergency alerts on tablets and extend EAS alerts to over-the-top services. “It is far from clear whether the Commission has the authority to impose EAS requirements on OTT video services at all,” Comcast said. The New York City Emergency Management Department said the public should be able to receive alerts wherever possible. “Where the Commission finds that it does not presently have the statutory authority to implement the necessary rules and regulations to ensure the public has immediate and ubiquitous access to emergency information, NYCEM encourages the Commission to seek the necessary authority through congressional action,” the department said.

ACA, Comcast and NCTA said the FCC shouldn't alter rules that allow cable carriers to force tune to a central emergency channel for alerts. “Eliminating the rules permitting forced tuning to a designated channel for EAS alerts and replacing it with a selective override requirement, as contemplated by the NPRM, would, in some cases, prevent the public from receiving necessary local emergency information from their cable operator,” ACA said. NAB disagreed. “We have long urged the Commission to recognize the folly of allowing cable operators to interrupt viewers’ access to the comprehensive and often life-saving emergency news provided by television broadcasters,” NAB said.

APTS and the AWARN Alliance urged the FCC to allow technological advances in alerting such as datacasting, which is expected to be a benefit of the transition to ATSC 3.0. “Public media is uniquely qualified to support the Emergency Alert System due to its interconnected nationwide reach, community involvement, and mission-based service to the public,” APTS said.