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 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."

The FCC sought comment on an American Cable Association petition (CD April 24 p13) to change some emergency alert system rules so small operators without broadband connections have a streamlined waiver process. The commission also sought comment on parts of the January emergency alert system order on Common Alerting Protocol, a new format using the Internet in which all EAS participants, which include all cable systems and radio and TV stations, must be able to get alerts in by June 30. “Nowhere” does the order say “a wireline broadband connection is necessary to comply with the Commission’s requirement,” an FCC public notice released late last week said. “We seek comment whether any presumption in favor of granting a waiver based on lack of physical access to broadband should be limited to an EAS Participant’s lack of physical access to a wireline broadband connection, as ACA requests.” The agency wants to know if it should consider costs of getting broadband in reviewing waiver requests, as the association asked. “If so, how should the Commission weigh such cost in this assessment?” the notice said (http://xrl.us/bm9p2f). “Should such an assessment be dependent on the financial condition of the petitioner? If so, what standard should we use for assessing whether a waiver is warranted based on financial condition? How much and what kind of information about a petitioner’s financial condition should be submitted in support of a waiver request? Should information as to where the waiver applicant is in its EAS equipment replacement cycle be a factor in the Commission’s analysis?” Comments on the notice, which posed other questions on the ACA request, are due, in docket 04-296, 15 days after the item’s publication in the Federal Register, replies 10 days later.

The American Cable Association’s assertion that blanket relief from certain buyout restrictions is necessary to allow cable companies to compete with much larger incumbent wireline carriers “represents a gross mischaracterization of the current domestic telecommunications environment,” the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance told the FCC in a letter Monday (http://xrl.us/bm5vq8). ACA made the statement in a joint letter with NCTA and CompTel supporting NCTA’s petition for relief from buyout restrictions between cable operators and certain CLECs, contained in Section 652 of the Communications Act. ITTA argued that ILECs are “hardly the ‘dominant’ providers of local exchange service,” as they face ever-rising non-ILEC VoIP subscriptions that had accounted for 28 percent of local wireline residential connections as of Dec. 2010, and a trend of consumers who “cut the cord” and subscribe exclusively to mobile telephone services. “It takes enormous audacity for ACA, et al. to argue that cable companies should be given a regulatory hand-out that would permit them to enter into cable-CLEC transactions without having to satisfy the statute’s public interest requirements as a means to ‘rekindle’ competition for local exchange service,” ITTA wrote. “The commission should refrain from taking action that would essentially provide wholesale approval of transactions that would eliminate a competitor from the market and create further disparities in regulatory treatment among service providers."

Wireline carriers are arguing over a proposal that would expand eligibility for incremental support funding under the Connect America Fund Phase I program. The American Cable Association and the NCTA came out Thursday against the proposal introduced in March by the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance, CenturyLink, Frontier and Windstream (CD Mar 8 p10).

TV stations and cable operators have differing views on whether an FCC rulemaking notice asking whether to extend viewability rules for another three years signals that the commission’s stance has long been settled. The 1992 Cable Act’s viewability provisions are at stake, the NAB said, in the agency’s forthcoming order on whether operators must continue to carry HD and standard definition versions of broadcasters guaranteed cable carriage in systems not all digital. Bright House Networks was among NCTA members that voluntarily committed to three years of what the industry terms dual carriage, and the association noted that period has ended. They said the NAB is trying to force the industry to treat that commitment as if it has no expiration.

Connect America Fund resources can be more efficiently used by cable providers to provide high-speed broadband service to rural areas, counsel for the American Cable Association reported telling FCC officials at a meeting Thursday (http://xrl.us/bmyv8k). Barring pole-attachment or right-of-way disputes, broadband projects can generally be completed within less than a year, and it should take no longer than two years to build out any census tract, the ex parte filing said. Therefore, the commission “should not inefficiently allocate its limited CAF resources to providers that require three years to deploy 4 Mbps/1 Mbps broadband service and five years to deploy 6 Mbps/1.5 Mbps service to some locations when there are other providers ready, willing and able to deploy in less than two years networks with much faster speeds which meet actual customer demands,” the ACA said.

Interests of cable operators and the Big Four broadcast TV networks aligned in what some called a rarity late last week. The owners of the ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC networks backed encryption of cable’s basic programming tier (CD March 2 p4) that includes signals of their affiliates by all-digital cable systems. It’s the first time cable programmers have directly weighed in on an FCC rulemaking proposing to let operators scramble basic channels to cut down on signal theft of unencrypted signals and let companies turn on and off service without technician visits to subscribers. The most vociferous consumer electronics manufacturer against encryption continued to oppose it: Boxee said broadcasters added no new reasons for the commission to act.

Calling cyberattacks a “critical threat to our economic future and national security,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski asked Internet stakeholders Wednesday to address three significant cyberthreats: botnets, domain name fraud, and IP hijacking. Specifically, Genachowski called on ISPs to develop and adopt an industry-wide code of conduct to combat botnets; develop secure routing standards to eliminate maliciously misrouted traffic; and adopt a series of DNS security extensions, called DNSSEC, developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force. Speaking at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Genachowski said the vulnerabilities were identified after he tasked the FCC’s Communications, Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) with making recommendations in March 2011.

Almost three months after the FCC approved a Universal Service Fund/intercarrier compensation reform plan, major industry players continue to seek significant changes. Comments were due last week on a further rulemaking notice approved as part of the order. How USF dollars ultimately will be divided as the fund is reconfigured to primarily pay for broadband is the key question addressed in most filings. They show that the FCC still has a huge job ahead as it continues to tackle changes to the USF. Numerous petitions for reconsideration have been filed in response to the Oct. 27 order. A second round of comments focusing on intercarrier compensation issues is due Feb. 24. Next week, the commission will begin to tackle Lifeline reform. Also looming are likely changes to the contribution side of USF.

Small cable operators will be hurt by new FCC rules on emergency alert system equipment that require pay-TV providers and others to get and pass onto viewers a new warning format, the American Cable Association said. The ACA said it and the NCTA had asked the commission to exempt cable systems lacking a physical Internet connection at their headends. The agency instead said in an order Wednesday (CD Jan 12 p8) on Part 11 EAS rules for Common Alerting Protocol that alert participants not served by broadband can seek waivers. CAP uses the Internet to send messages from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which developed the standard a few years ago. “Adding to the burden was the FCC’s decision to consider waivers only on a case-by-case basis while suggesting that any waivers granted will be limited to a maximum of six months,” ACA President Matt Polka said Thursday. “Because the FCC did not adopt or even consider a streamlined waiver process, ACA members will have to absorb the added expense of retaining counsel to draft waivers and track their progress within the agency after they have been submitted.” Some cable systems may shut down “prematurely” because of the new rules, Polka said (http://xrl.us/bmoiu9). He asked the commission to “promptly” reconsider the decision. The ACA is considering whether to file a petition for reconsideration, an association spokesman said. A spokeswoman for the Public Safety Bureau, which drafted the order, declined to comment.