The Yakima County, (Wash.) E911 Administrative Board has filed comments with the FCC opposing the diversion of 911 surcharges and fees for other purposes. In comments filed in PS docket 09-14, the board said “that the diversion and withholding of funds from the intended specific purposes hinders the enhancement of the 9-1-1 and NG911 communication systems in which these taxes were enacted to exclusively support. Continue reading
Month: March 2015
NPSTC Opposes TIA Petition Re 700 Narrowband Rules
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council has filed comments opposing a petition for reconsideration filed by the Telecommunications Industry Association asking the FCC to reconsider a provision in a report and order it released in October concerning its 700 megahertz band narrowband rules (TRDaily, Oct. 24, 2014).
In its petition, TIA asked the FCC to “amend the Order to reflect that at the time a manufacturer submits a device for type approval it may not yet be feasible or possible to have completed yet all the requirements for Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (P25 CAP) certification” (TRDaily, Jan. 5).
Motorola Solutions, Inc., recently filed comments in support of the petition (TRDaily, Feb. 12). But in a filing yesterday in PS docket 13-87, NPSTC opposed it.
“NPSTC strongly supports both the P25 standard and the P25 CAP certification program. From a NPSTC perspective, 700 MHz P25 products sold and delivered should be required to meet the P25 CAP certification,” the federation said. “As noted in the TIA Petition, the P25 standard has provided significant improvements in interoperability. However, without independent certification that 700 MHz P25 products actually meet the P25 standard and can interoperate with other P25 devices, communications interoperability could suffer. That of course would be detrimental to public safety and the public it strives to protect and serve.” Continue reading
FCC, Industry, Safety Officials Tout Benefits of 911 Accuracy Order
FCC, industry, and public safety officials today touted what they said were the benefits of the FCC’s new 911 location accuracy order (TRDaily, Jan. 29). Meanwhile, some 911 officials interviewed offered generally positive assessments of the new rules.
During a session at the National Emergency Number Association’s 911 Goes to Washington event, David Furth, deputy chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, and Timothy May, NG-911 projects manager in the bureau, emphasized what they said were the key points of the order, including that it requires the establishment of a permanent test bed and the reporting of live call data for the first time, includes numerous reporting and monitoring mechanisms, and will lead to first responders being able to receive dispatchable location to find 911 callers through the use of millions of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth access points. Continue reading
Mission Critical Magazine Reports on NPSTC’s Radio I/O Best Practices Working Group
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council’s (NPSTC) Radio Interoperability Best Practices Working Group is working to finalize two best practices related to radio programming at the scene of large-scale incidents.
The group has drafted a total of 12 best practice statements using a standard template that records the best practice statement, a statement of importance, an incident use case, supporting elements and how it relates to the Interoperability Continuum regarding standard operating procedures (SOPs), governance, technology, training/exercise and usage. Read more here: http://mccmag.com/newsArticle.cfm?news_id=11743