Comcast asked the FCC for a six-month reprieve from complying...
Comcast asked the FCC for a six-month reprieve from complying with new emergency alert system (EAS) rules taking effect at month’s end “for a handful of its smallest, most remote cable systems ... serving less than two tenths of one…
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percent” of its subscribership (http://xrl.us/bncgdp). The systems can’t receive messages formatted in common alerting protocol (CAP) because they lack broadband connections, but the company is “aggressively pursuing an innovative plan” to comply through a “satellite-based delivery mechanism, and it is doing so notwithstanding the substantial ‘per subscriber’ implementation costs associated with that plan,” Comcast said. “Subscribers to Comcast’s Remote Systems already have access to timely and effective emergency warnings through legacy EAS equipment, and Comcast will continue to operate its legacy EAS equipment at the Remote Systems” while it works on CAP compliance. Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Chief David Turetsky separately granted (http://xrl.us/bncgd7) the American Cable Association’s request for withdrawal of its petition for reconsideration of the new EAS rules. The group had proposed a streamlined waiver process for cable systems that serve less than 501 subscribers, but in its withdrawal petition noted that the comment cycle for that proposal would end on July 3 -- after the new rules take effect (CD June 14 pX) -- and thus deprive ACA members of “meaningful relief."