Comments are due today on changes to the FCC’s Part 11 rules governing the Emergency Alert System so that participants can transition to next-gen EAS using the Common Alerting Protocol.
Whether the FCC should extend the Sept. 30 deadline for broadcasters to have CAP-compliant EAS gear installed is a big topic.
Gorman-Redlich President Jim Gorman favors extending the equipment installation deadline by 18 months “to allow plenty of time for manufacturers, vendors, participants, etc to perform (re)certification, make budget allowances, install equipment, etc.,” he writes.
Monroe Electronics believes the current deadline is sufficient, and any extension or modification could have significant repercussions for EAS stakeholders, such as unintended costs to manufacturers “by removing essential elements of predictability in the market and in their ability to plan their supply chain.”
“We would respectfully make mention of the likelihood that a number of EAS participants are procrastinating and delaying acquisition of CAP-compliant EAS equipment due to prior CAP deadline extension, and perception that they may be additional deadline extensions,” Monroe states.
Finally, in a public filing signed as “Keith” from One Ministries Inc., the author states the broadcaster purchased a CAP-EAS system to meet the original March 29 deadline “only to find that there were absolutely no sites to monitor. Also, it appears that there still will be no CAP feeds to monitor until September 2011. We feel it is irresponsible for the FCC to require broadcasters to migrate to having CAP-compliant devices when the federal government hasn’t completed its works to first get the system up and running.”
One Ministries states the commission should make the CAP equipment purchase deadline “within one year of the federal government implementing its infrastructure.”
Comments are due to Docket 04-296.
