The Federal Emergency Management Agency said an FCC order’s “unintended consequences” could make some emergency alert system messages originated in a FEMA-designed format useless. The agency petitioned the commission to revisit a January order (CD Jan 12 p8) on the new Common Alerting Protocol format to reverse its ban on text-to-speech EAS warnings. By not allowing such warnings where government agencies originating alerts send scripts of the warnings without also transmitting audio, some transmissions may not go through at all and others may only have warning tones and no actual message, the petition said. “No EAS Participants transmit the full detail alert message and the public is left to make life saving decisions based upon a 90-character” alert from participating wireless carriers “alone,” under one scenario.
A revised ethics handbook from NPR may reaffirm the organization’s mission to achieve and uphold journalism standards, but it may not be enough to satisfy its critics, some executives said. The public radio programmer began revising its ethics guidelines shortly after the scrutiny that ensued after Juan Williams, former senior news analyst, was fired (CD Oct 25/10 p3). An incident where former NPR Foundation President Ron Schiller was filmed making negative statements about NPR funding prompted some lawmakers to question the organization’s agenda (CD March 10 p6).
A Colorado bill seeks to modernize the state’s telecom law by phasing out subsidies in competitive areas of the state and investing in broadband in unserved areas, among other things. The bill targets CenturyLink customers in rural, hard-to-serve areas and could result in their loss of service, said CenturyLink, the largest provider in the state. Rural providers in the state support the bill, saying it might help them offset some of the revenue loss resulting from the FCC’s USF reform.
The satellite industry has grown over the past year due in part to HD availability and international demand, satellite professionals said Monday at the Satellite 2012 conference. The marketplace is expected to expand, but budget cuts in some sectors and the blurring of mobile satellite service (MSS) and fixed satellite service (FSS) could cause a lull, some experts said.
Hundreds of different types of receivers are in use today, with different characteristics, and developing receiver standards won’t be easy, Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology, said at the start of a two-day FCC workshop Monday. NTIA Associate Administrator Karl Nebbia said receiver standards will become a critical issue if the U.S. wants to avoid the expected spectrum crunch.
The FCC’s proposed methodology for setting an upper limit of high-cost loop support paid to incumbent rate-of-return LECs is fundamentally sound, but needs additional analysis of specific implementation issues, said two economists asked by the Wireline Bureau to do peer reviews (http://xrl.us/bmxvwu). The Universal Service Fund/intercarrier compensation order adopted a rule to limit reimbursable capital and operations expenses relative to a LEC’s “similarly situated” peers.
Discrepancies in how the FCC handles evidence in program carriage cases ought to be resolved by remanding an independent programmer’s failed complaint against four major cable operators to the agency, the indie said. WealthTV said the commission in last year’s order finding against its complaint against Bright House Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable should have found those defendants had the burden of proof and not the plaintiff. The appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited various recommendations in recent years by administrative law judges in other cases and by the Media Bureau. Many were not approved by the full agency.
FCC cancellation of LightSquared’s ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) authorization won’t be the end of the LightSquared saga, said Executive Vice President Jeff Carlisle, speaking at the Satellite 2012 conference Monday. The FCC has proposed pulling LightSquared’s ATC authorization and an associated waiver that would have allowed the company to sell terrestrial service without including satellite component. Comments on the proposals are due Friday.
FCC nominees’ chances of Senate confirmation remain uncertain even if Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, lifts his hold on confirmation of Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel, communications industry lobbyists said. A House Commerce Committee request for LightSquared documents from the FCC could appease Grassley, but political dynamics in the Senate may still stand in the way of confirming new commissioners, they said. Top House Commerce members indicated last week that the committee would share with Grassley.
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.