Comcast 2013 Annual Report Download - page 35

Table of Contents
Environmental requirements have become more stringent over time, and pending or proposed new regulations could impact our
operations or costs. For example, climate change regulation, such as proposed greenhouse gas emissions limits or cap and trade
programs, could result in an increase in the cost of electricity, which is a significant component of our operational costs at some
locations. We are unable to accurately predict how these requirements might be changed in the future and how any such changes
might affect our businesses.
Disabilities Access
Our businesses are subject to a number of requirements related to ensuring that our services are accessible to individuals with
disabilities. Among other things, our voice services and email services must be accessible to and usable by persons with
disabilities; we must provide additional narrations of key visual elements (referred to as “video description”)
on certain of our video
services and programming; and we must include closed captioning on certain video programming delivered to our customers. The
FCC is very focused on accessibility issues and is currently considering the adoption of additional quality standards for closed
captioning. The FCC also has adopted rules that will require that on-screen menus and program guides used on set-
top boxes and
other navigation devices to access multichannel video programming be audibly accessible to blind and low-
vision customers. The
FCC is considering further accessibility requirements for multichannel video providers, broadcasters and other entities, and we
cannot predict what impact those further requirements would have on our businesses.
Other FCC Regulations
The FCC actively regulates other aspects of our businesses, including the mandatory blackout of syndicated, network and sports
programming; customer service standards; loudness of commercial advertisements; political advertising; Emergency Alert System
requirements; equal employment opportunity; lottery programming; recordkeeping and public file access requirements;
telemarketing; technical standards relating to operation of the cable systems and television stations; and regulatory fees. We are
unable to predict how these regulations might be changed in the future and how any such changes might affect our businesses. In
addition, while we believe that we are in substantial compliance with FCC regulations, we are occasionally subject to enforcement
actions at the FCC, which can result in our having to pay fines to the agency or being subject to other sanctions.
Employees
As of December 31, 2013, we had approximately 136,000 full-time and part-
time employees. Of these employees, approximately
83,000 and 40,000 were associated with our Cable Communications business and our NBCUniversal businesses, respectively. We
also use freelance and temporary employees in the normal course of our business.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
The SEC encourages companies to disclose forward-looking information so that investors can better understand a company’
s
future prospects and make informed investment decisions. In this Annual Report on Form 10-
K, we state our beliefs of future events
and of our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify these so-called “forward-looking statements”
by words
such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “potential,” or “continue,”
or the negative of these words, and other
comparable words. You should be aware that these statements are only our predictions. In evaluating these statements, you should
consider various factors, including the risks and uncertainties listed in “Risk Factors” and in other reports we file with the SEC.
Comcast 2013 Annual Report on Form 10
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K
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