WEC Continues to Pursue Access on All Fronts

On July 8, 2008 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Second Report & Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2nd R&O FNPRM) regarding the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).  In the R&O the FCC references comments made by the wireless RERC’s wireless emergency communications (WEC) project: "According to the Wireless RERC, there is a need to develop a thorough testing regime to ensure that the CMAS will be accessible and inclusive of all people, including those with disabilities and those who do not speak English."  The preceding quote can be found in paragraph 18 on page 8 and a separate footnote reference regarding paragraph 21 on page 9.  The CMAS 2nd R&O FNPRM adopts rules regarding geographically targeted alerts and the mandatory testing regime for participating commercial mobile service providers and seeks comment on requiring non-commercial educational and public broadcast television stations licensees to participate in testing their component of the system.  The full text of the document can be accessed at [http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-164A1.pdf].  A word version of the document is available on the FCC homepage at [www.fcc.gov].