Month: April 2015

SAFECOM Grant Guidance

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) is pleased to announce that the FY 2015 SAFECOM Guidance on Emergency Communications Grants (SAFECOM Guidance) has been posted to the SAFECOM website at: http://www.dhs.gov/safecom. The FY 2015 SAFECOM Guidance is updated annually to provide the most current information on emergency communications policies, eligible costs, technical standards, and best practices for State, territorial, tribal, and local grantees investing Federal funds in emergency communications projects.

The SAFECOM Guidance continues to evolve to reflect the emergency communications ecosystem and meet the needs of the public safety community.  This year’s Guidance has been updated to reflect the 2014 National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) goals and objectives and the inclusion of all emergency communications capabilities, standards, and resources.  As key stakeholders in the emergency communications community, thank you for your contribution to this year’s Guidance and helping us ensure that emergency communications policy is consistent across the Federal government.

For questions or additional information on the FY 2015 SAFECOM Guidance, please email OEC at: oec@hq.dhs.gov.

OEC Summary of 2015 DHS Preparedness Grant Programs

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Each year, the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) drafts a letter detailing fiscal year DHS grants.  This year the letter contains the following information:

  • DHS grant amounts and deadlines
  • Key updates or changes in funding or program details
  • Table detailing each grant program including purpose, eligibility, and allowable costs
  • Detailing of SAFECOM Guidance priorities and recommendations for grantees
  • FEMA grant requirements and grants management best practices

Read the grant letter here: http://npstc.org/download.jsp tableId=37&column=217&id=3388&file=FY15_Federal_Grant_Update_FINAL_150410.pdf

Charley Bryson’s First Responder News, April 10, 2015

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As a continuing reminder to all 700 MHz Regional Planning Committees, FCC 14-172 requires the revision of RPC 700 MHz channel plans with submissions to the Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau by June 2, 2015.  A request for a six month extension of the date for filing 700 MHz regional plan amendments prompted by 14-172 has been submitted.  The document can be found in Docket 13-87 of the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/comment_search_solr/search).

PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU ANNOUNCES UPDATE TO PSAP TEXT-TO-911 READINESS AND CERTIFICATION REGISTRY. (DA No.  15-426). (Dkt No 11-153 10-255 ).  PSHSB . Contact:  Tim May at (202) 418-1463, email: Timothy.May@fcc.gov

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-426A1.docx

WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON ACR ELECTRONICS, INC. REQUEST FOR WAIVER TO PERMIT CERTIFICATION AND USE OF PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACON WITH TEXTING CAPABILITY IN LIEU OF 121.5 MHZ HOMING SIGNAL. (DA No.  15-423). (Dkt No 15-85 ). Comments Due:  05/07/2015. Reply Comments Due:  05/22/2015.  WTB . Contact:  Tim Maguire at (202) 418-2155, email: Tim.Maguire@fcc.gov

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-423A1.docx

FCC FINES CENTURYLINK AND INTRADO $17.4 MILLION FOR MULTI-STATE 911 OUTAGE.  News Release. News Media Contact: Neil Grace at (202) 418-0506, email: Neil.Grace@fcc.gov  EB https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-332853A1.docx  Continue reading →

FCC Releases 800 MHz Band Guidance

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The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today released a public notice clarifying how it “will accept applications for expanded coverage or additional channels from public safety licensees that elected to remain in the 800 MHz Expansion Band (815-816/860-861 MHz).”

The bureau said “that applications from public safety licensees that chose to remain on Expansion Band channels will be subject to the same process established for other licensees seeking to license Expansion Band channels. Thus, public safety licensees that chose to remain on Expansion Band channels retain the privileges established in the Expansion Band Guidance PN, but their applications for expanded coverage or additional channels will be subject to pre-coordination and will only be accepted on or after the filing date established by the Bureaus for each NPSPAC region.

The Bureaus find this to be in the public interest because it will maintain a stable spectral environment for the Expansion Band prior to the announcement of a filing date and will enable frequency coordinators to precoordinate applications and resolve any conflicts.”

Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, April 10, 2015

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The 13th of April is when LA-RICS will have to present a plan to the NTIA/FirstNet regarding their deployment plans and how much they can really accomplish by the end of September when the grant runs out. Only Congress can change or extend the expiration date of the grant I am told. I hope they have a workable plan to present, we need LA-RICS as the first Major metropolitan Public Safety Broadband system up and running. In addition, according to LA-RICS some of the towers in question were also going to be used to provide additional coverage for the new 700 MHz trunked radio system.

I am working on my comments to respond to the FirstNet “Further Proposal Interpretations of Parts of the Middle Class Tax and Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012”. I am hoping that a lot of comments will be received and that the majority will uphold my view that if a State opts out and builds their own system to connect to FirstNet, that FirstNet partners will still have access to that spectrum on a secondary basis and that any income derived from the use of the spectrum goes directly to the lease holder and to FirstNet and not the States. If the states believe, rightly or wrongly, that by opting out they will have access to a monetary wind-fall then they will opt out and there will be little, if any incentive for partners to work with FirstNet on a nationwide basis. The success of FirstNet is dependent upon at least one partner to assist with the network build-out and operation. There are other parts of the document which are also important but to me this is the most critical point raised. Continue reading →

Comments Sought on Suicide Number Petition

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The FCC seeks comment on a petition for rulemaking filed by Care2, Inc., asking the FCC to establish a nationwide three-digit number for suicide hotlines. Care2 filed its petition in February with 30,188 signatures of people who say they support such a number. The group said the designation of a three-digit number would particularly benefit veterans and teens who might commit suicide. Comments are due May 11 in Rulemaking 11746.

DHS S&T Expands Mobile App Archiving Technology

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Washington, D.C.–The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has announced the expansion of the mobile application archiving technology across all major mobile apps markets. In addition to Android apps, the technology can now archive apps from iTunes, Windows Phone Store, Google Play, Amazon, and 83 global third-party mobile app markets such as Baidu and Cydia.

“The demand of today’s IT service has evolved from desktop computers to mobile technologies,” said DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Dr. Reginald Brothers. “To accomplish the Department’s mission, we are leveraging mobile technologies and enabling a mobile workforce. This technology will help manage and secure mobile apps and the delivery of next generation IT services.” Continue reading →

270 PSAPs Seek Text to 91-1 Service

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The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau today released an updated version of its registry for public safety answering points (PSAPs) that say they are ready to receive text-to-911 service. It lists about 270 PSAPs.

 

Grants Administrator: LA-RICS Project in “Severe Jeopardy”

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Recent votes by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council to halt at least partial construction of cell sites for the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) “place LA RICS’s Project development schedule in severe jeopardy,”according to the administrator of LA-RICS’s $154.6 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant.

“Under the terms and conditions of the BTOP award, LA-RICS must complete all project construction activities by the current award period end date of September 30, 2015,” said Arlene Simpson Porter, director of the Grants
Management Division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which handles BTOP grant management for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which April 3 announced suspension of further LA-RICS construction (TRDaily, April 3). “LA-RICS is severely behind schedule.”

Ms. Porter added in her April 3 letter to LA-RICS that in response to a May 2014 “Corrective Action Plan” (CAP) that her division implemented, “LA-RICS supplied a project plan indicating that construction would be complete at over 150 project sites by the end of the award period. To date, construction has been completed at only 15 sites, which indicates the project is substantially lagging behind the timeline needed to successfully complete the Project.” Continue reading →

Century Link to Pay $16 M, Intrado $1.4 M to Close Probe into Huge 911 Outage

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CenturyLink, Inc., has agreed to pay $16 million and Intrado, Inc., $1.4 million to settle an FCC Enforcement Bureau probe of a 911 outage in April 2014 that affected more than 11 million people in seven states for more than six hours, the FCC announced today. The fine that CenturyLink will pay is the largest ever imposed by the Commission related to 911.

The outage, which impacted 83 public safety answering points (PSAPs), was caused by a software coding error at an Intrado 911 call-routing facility in Englewood, Colo., according to a report released last October by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (TRDaily, Oct. 17, 2014). The FCC followed up on the report by issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking the following month proposing rules to strengthen 911 governance and accountability (TRDailly, Nov. 21, 2014). The FCC noted in a news release today that the outage “resulted in over 6,600 missed 911 calls, including calls reportedly involving domestic violence, assault, motor vehicle accidents, a heart attack, an overdose, and an intruder breaking into a residence.” Continue reading →