NAB Has Warning For FCC On EAS Plans

Radio stations kept emergency alerts on the air for days or weeks after cellular networks failed in recent disasters, and the National Association of Broadcasters is using that record to warn the FCC that parts of its Emergency Alert System modernization plan could weaken the very backup the public relies on when phones go dark. 

In comments filed Aug. 29, NAB responded to a June Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that followed a Report and Order imposing new EAS cybersecurity rules, including a Sept. 29 deadline for stronger passwords and firewalls. The new filing targets proposals still under review, not the cybersecurity mandates already adopted. NAB supports letting stations run EAS in software instead of dedicated hardware boxes — a change it first petitioned for in March 2025 — but only if that software comes from “a trusted source running on curated hardware.” 

A cloud-dependent design, the group said, could leave stations unable to relay alerts during power and internet outages that have already knocked out cell service in disaster zones. It cited four-day wireless outages in the 2023 Maui wildfires, nearly two weeks of dead cell service in parts of North Carolina after Hurricane Helene, and up to three weeks without service in some Louisiana parishes after Hurricane Ida. Broadcasters stayed on the air through all three. 

The association also opposed cutting the repair window for defective EAS software from 60 days to 72 hours. Stations typically check EAS test logs weekly, NAB said, so a fault may not even be noticed within three days. Some software failures also trace to hardware that takes longer to diagnose and replace. 

The FCC’s June package aims to harden EAS against hijacking, authenticate alerts before they air, add a universal alert ID to block duplicates, and allow software-based processing as an alternative to physical encoder-decoder boxes. NAB has backed those cybersecurity “reasonable safeguards” and the software option as a voluntary tool for faster patches and redundancy. Its latest filing draws a line at designs or deadlines that assume continuous internet or cell connectivity — the infrastructure that failed when radio was still delivering warnings. 

Reply comments in the proceeding are due Sept. 29. 

Until the Commission writes final rules, stations remain bound by existing EAS hardware requirements and the new baseline cybersecurity obligations that take effect this month.