(April 9) NTCA joined ACA Connects in filing comments on the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to require cable operators to deliver Emergency Alert System (EAS) alerts in multiple languages. The proposed rules would require cable operators to deliver EAS alerts in the language that corresponds to the programming taking place on each channel at the time the alert is to be distributed. In the comments, the organizations demonstrated that cable systems would need to undergo both equipment and software modifications to have this capability, and that neither the equipment nor software has been developed. As a result, NTCA and ACA Connects recommended the commission establish a working group to identify the capabilities and costs that would be necessary for cable systems to be able to deliver multilingual EAS alerts.
