Month: June 2018

EAS Order Circulated to FCC Commissioners

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A draft Emergency Alert System (EAS) order on reconsideration was circulated to FCC Commissioners on Monday, according to the agency’s weekly list of circulated items. The item addresses a petition filed in 2005 by Intelsat Corp., PanAmSat Corp. (now part of Intelsat), and SES Americom, Inc., seeking reconsideration of an EAS order. The draft order would generally deny the parties’ petition concerning EAS obligations but adopts criteria for determining when EAS obligations are triggered for fixed-satellite service licensees whose satellites deliver video programming outside the U.S. but whose programming can be picked up by people in the U.S., according to a source.

Courtesy TRDaily

GAO Report Released: Emergency Communications: Increased Regional Collaboration Could Enhance Capabilities

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GAO-18-379: Published: Apr 26, 2018. Publicly Released: May 29, 2018.

During emergencies, first responders need to be able to communicate with each other—even across jurisdictions. After Hurricane Katrina, Congress passed a law to help first responders do just that. The law created working groups to improve regional collaboration. Each group has members from different levels of government, as well as from the private sector.

We found that these groups have generally worked well at the regional level—members shared information and assisted each other during emergencies. However, we recommended that FEMA encourage nationwide collaboration among the groups.  Read report here.