NATE Newsroom:

NATE Statement on FCC’s Public Notice Providing Flexibility Options Related to Phase 9 Broadcast Repack Deadlines 

Posted on: March 17, 2020 Category: NATE News

For Immediate Release: 
March 17, 2020

NATE Statement on FCC’s Public Notice Providing Flexibility Options Related to Phase 9 Broadcast Repack Deadlines 

(Washington, D.C.) – NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association today issued the following statement regarding the FCC’s Public Notice announcement that the agency is allowing flexibility to any station scheduled to complete its transition in Phase 9 that believes it may be unable to meet the May 1, 2020, deadline due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The FCC will be providing this flexibility by granting stations a waiver of the Phase 9 deadline and reassignment to Phase 10, which begins on May 2, 2020, and ends on July 3, 2020.

“NATE thanks the FCC for providing this broadcast repack deadline extension option to Phase 9 stations,” said President & CEO Todd Schlekeway. “Over the course of the last week, NATE has reached out to many of our prominent broadcast contractor member companies who are currently on the front lines working on the repack transition. These members provided detailed information to the Association in regards to the challenges the COVID-19 public health threat is having on their respective companies and crews, including the myriad of problems associated with the scheduling, logistics and coordination that are an integral part of this specialized work. Providing relief in the form of the extension of deadlines is an important step for the FCC to take in order to ensure that NATE member companies and others involved can complete their work in a safe and quality manner during these unpredictable times. NATE will continue to assess this situation by staying in close communication with our broadcast member contractors to monitor both progress and challenges in the event future deadline extensions are necessary,” added Schlekeway. 

For more information on today’s FCC Public Notice announcement, visit HERE. For more information on NATE, visit www.natehome.com today.

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About NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association

NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association is a non-profit trade association dedicated to providing a unified voice for companies in the diverse tower and communications infrastructure construction, service and maintenance industries. Today the Association boasts over 940 member companies located throughout the United States, Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Israel, Jamaica, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Trinidad and the United Kingdom. For additional information on NATE, please visit www.natehome.com.

Contact: Todd Schlekeway
(605) 882-5865