CommLawBlog : Broadcast & Communications Lawyers & Attorneys : Fletcher Heald & Hildreth Law Firm : Telecommunications, FCC Regulation, Communications Act

“Only” a test? Maybe so, but it’s a first-of-its-kind NATIONAL test.

If all goes as planned, sometime later this year it’s at least theoretically possible that we may hear the President himself reach out to all of us through the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for the very first time. Which is odd, because for nearly two decades the EAS has been available (as was its predecessor, the Emergency Broadcast System, for still more decades) to enable the President to do just that. Even so, the nationwide capability of the EAS has never been formally tested (with or without the participation of the Commander-in-Chief). But now, as part of its overall review of the EAS, the Commission has adopted a Third Report and Order (3rd R&O) which will, among other changes, lead to the first-ever national test of the EAS.

Weekly and monthly EAS tests and EAS activations at the state and local level have for years been SOP for EAS participants, “EAS participants” being a broad universe including broadcasters, cable operators, direct broadcast satellite operators and others. But there has never been a national test (much less an actual nationwide activation, thank goodness) of the EAS. About a year ago, acknowledging the need for “top-to-bottom” national testing of EAS to ensure that the system would in fact work should the necessity arise, the Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) looking to establish practices for nationwide testing. The 3rd R&O is the result.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

New and improved universal service support mechanism for schools, libraries to become effective January 3

The FCC’s Sixth Report and Order (6th R&O) in its Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism proceeding (more commonly known as “the E-rate program”) – first adopted last September – has finally been published in the Federal Register. This means that the revised rules will take effect on January 3, 2011 . 

In the 6th R&O, the FCC has upgraded and modernized the E-rate program, consistent with the National Broadband Plan’s (NBP’s) vision of improving broadband connectivity at the nation’s schools and libraries.

The revisions adopted in the 6th R&O fall into three conceptual categories: (1) providing schools and libraries with greater flexibility to select and make available the most cost-effective broadband and other communications services; (2) simplifying the E-rate application process; and (3) improving safeguards against waste, fraud and abuse.

In particular, the 6th R&O provides schools and libraries with more flexibility by allowing applicants to lease dark or lit fiber from the most cost-effective provider. The FCC has also changed its rules to allow schools to permit community use of E-rate funded services outside of school hours. With affordable fiber, these “School Spots” are a major step toward the NBP’s goal of connecting an anchor institution in every community to affordable 1 gigabit per second broadband. The FCC indexed to the inflation rate E-rate’s funding cap in order to maintain purchasing power. Finally, the FCC seeks proposals for a limited pilot program to establish best practices to support off-campus wireless connectivity for portable learning devices, such as digital textbooks, outside of regular school or library operating hours. The Commission has separately announced that applications for the pilot program must be submitted on or before December 17, 2010.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link