Keeping 911 call takers safe is critical to maintaining emergency call systems during the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak, said stakeholders in interviews this week. APCO, the National Emergency Number Association and National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA) leaders are less worried about a potential surge in calls as there might be in a hurricane. Wider deployment of next-generation 911 would give call takers and responders more flexibility, they said.
Some communications stakeholders are on board with calls to halt retransmission consent blackouts for the next 60 days during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tuesday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made such a request, and ACA Connects quickly endorsed it. NAB CEO Gordon Smith in Q&A with us Wednesday made a similar request and supported broadcasters doing their part. After he spoke, some cable operators made similar comments.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association appoints Peter Tolsdorf, ex-National Association of Manufacturers, general counsel and corporate secretary ... YouTube hires Alexandra Veitch, from Tesla, as lead-public policy, Americas and emerging markets ... Activision Blizzard names Daniel Alegre, from Google, president-chief operating officer, succeeding Coddy Johnson, who continues as special adviser to CEO Bobby Kotick; and Helaine Klasky, from SoundDesign, chief communications officer, succeeding Kristin Binns, who becomes senior adviser, new role ... Telo announces Kimberly DellaTorre, ex-Nokia, is vice president-customer success.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association appoints Peter Tolsdorf, ex-National Association of Manufacturers, general counsel and corporate secretary ... YouTube hires Alexandra Veitch, from Tesla, as lead-public policy, Americas and emerging markets ... Activision Blizzard names Daniel Alegre, from Google, president-chief operating officer, succeeding Coddy Johnson, who continues as special adviser to CEO Bobby Kotick; and Helaine Klasky, from SoundDesign, chief communications officer, succeeding Kristin Binns, who becomes senior adviser, new role ... Telo announces Kimberly DellaTorre, ex-Nokia, is vice president-customer success.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association appoints Peter Tolsdorf, ex-National Association of Manufacturers, general counsel and corporate secretary ... Activision Blizzard names Daniel Alegre, from Google, president-chief operating officer, effective April 7, and Helaine Klasky, from SoundDesign, chief communications officer, succeeding Kristin Binns, who becomes senior adviser, new role ... YouTube hires Alexandra Veitch, from Tesla, as lead-public policy, Americas and emerging markets.
Broadcasters having satellite phones on hand and pressing more stations to sign up for the FCC's disaster information reporting system are among items the FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council is considering for dealing with emergencies. CSRIC adopted two working group reports Tuesday, one on broadcaster best practices and one on 911 interoperability in the transition from legacy to IP-based networks. The approved reports weren't posted Tuesday.
The FCC should act quickly to help school districts give students the devices and connectivity they need to learn online while schools are closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks, educational technology stakeholders said in recent interviews. An estimated 6 million to 12 million K-12 schoolchildren don't have residential broadband. Some school districts are postponing online classes until all their students can be connected.
Communications challenges posed by the novel coronavirus prompted NAB CEO Gordon Smith to seek help from other industries. He hopes for no retransmission consent blackouts of TV stations' content on MVPDs. And he wants social media platforms to work with broadcasters to combat fake news.
The FCC should act quickly to help school districts give students the devices and connectivity they need to learn online while schools are closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks, educational technology stakeholders said in recent interviews. An estimated 6 million to 12 million K-12 schoolchildren don't have residential broadband. Some school districts are postponing online classes until all their students can be connected.
After a broadcast tower company suspended work for two weeks because of the novel coronavirus, the FCC announced Tuesday it will allow stations that can’t meet the upcoming phase 9 deadline because of COVID-19-related delays to shift to the next phase (see 2003170023). Phase 10, which begins May 3, is scheduled to be the final phase of the repacking.