The FCC has given the Cromwell Group of Illinois more time to comply with aspects of this month’s EAS deadline.
Eleven of Cromwell’s stations use EAS units manufactured by Gorman-Redlich. The broadcaster told the FCC that the manufacturer had mailed the necessary chips to update their EAS software but that they haven’t arrived. Cromwell expects to finish the installation in the next two weeks.
So the company requested an extension of the Dec. 12 deadline by which EAS participants must prioritize Common Alerting Protocol-formatted versions of EAS messages when they receive both legacy and CAP-formatted versions of the same alert.
The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has granted an extension of the requirement to March 11, 2024, specifically for Cromwell. In granting the extension, the bureau noted that Cromwell’s consulting engineer has been working with vendors since late September to upgrade the relevant equipment and had taken “prompt and persistent action” to try to comply with the deadline.
Cromwell owns other stations that use EAS boxes made by Sage Alerting Systems. Those are already covered by the separate industry-wide extension for Sage users.
