Comcast 2014 Annual Report Download - page 34

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 statutory and regulatory 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 on certain of our video services
and programming; and we must include closed captioning on certain video programming delivered to our customers. The FCC has
adopted quality standards for closed captioning, as well as 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 MVPDs, 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 and network
programming, customer service standards, inside wiring, leased access, 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 cable systems and television stations, and
regulatory fees. The FCC is considering possible changes to regulations in several other areas. 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, 2014, we had approximately 139,000 full-time and part-
time employees. Of these employees, approximately
84,000 and 43,000 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.
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Comcast 2014 Annual Report on Form 10
-
K