Month: November 2016

Rivada Networks Disqualified from Mexican Wholesale Network Project

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November 7, 2016–Rivada Networks LLC says it has been notified that it has been disqualified from bidding for Mexico’s nationwide wholesale wireless network project, but the company challenged the decision in court today. “Rivada has complied with every requirement put before us by the Mexican government, despite the fact that the government repeatedly moved the goalposts on bidders in the final weeks and months,” the company said in a Nov. 4 news release.  “We will contest this decision in the courts and we are confident we will be reinstated. The Mexican people deserve a true competition for this important initiative, not a coronation of a pre-selected victor. Only Rivada’s consortium ensures a truly neutral network, free from influence from incumbents in Mexico, as the Constitution demands and the government claims to want.”

Rivada co-Chief Executive Officer and executive Chairman Declan Ganley tweeted today that the company had filed a court challenge to the decision.

The Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) said that Rivada’s consortium was disqualified from the Red Compartida project because it failed to submit a $1 billion peso (US $53.5 million) bid security by an Oct. 20 deadline. The SCT said the Altan consortium bid is the only pending proposal. Continue reading →

NGA Recommends Ways FirstNet Can Engage with States

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November 2, 2016–The National Governors Association today released a letter to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) recommending ways that FirstNet can engage with states in the deployment of a nationwide public safety broadband network. The letter emphasized the importance of FirstNet engaging “states as full partners in planning and building the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN). The reason for that is not only to meet the statutory requirements for state consultations, but more importantly to ensure that key information, processes, and expertise within states can be appropriately brought to bear on the full range of FirstNet activities.”

It said FirstNet should communicate with states through the single points of contact (SPOCs), notify SPOCs at least 15 days before representatives travel to a state, and provide NGA updates on FirstNet activities. “FirstNet and its vendor, once selected, should robustly engage states to develop their respective state plans,” the letter also said. “These engagements should include regular communication with the SPOC before, during, and after state draft plans are developed. States should have as many opportunities as possible to review and provide comments on iterations of the draft plans.” Continue reading →

Ligado Responds to Iridium Analysis

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November 2, 2016–Ligado Networks LLC is responding to a technical study submitted recently by Iridium Communications, Inc., that Iridium says details “the significant risk of harmful interference that would be created by granting Ligado the flexibility to deploy user terminals for a CMRS system in the 1627.5-1637.5 MHz band” (TRDaily, Sept. 2). Ligado says it believes the two companies can reach a resolution on pending issues.

In a filing in IB dockets 12-340 and 11-109 reporting on a meeting with FCC officials, Ligado said that “Iridium’s licensed downlink spectrum in the Big LEO band is allocated for MSS downlinks on a secondary, non-interference basis, and Iridium is licensed to use the band for downlinks on that same basis. Accordingly, Iridium’s downlink operations are not entitled to interference protection from adjacent spectrum users operating under primary allocations, including Ligado.” Continue reading →

FirstNet Weekly Update to the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) – November 7, 2016

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FirstNet News

FirstNet participated in the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Emerging Technology Forum last week in Seattle, Washington. FirstNet Vice Chair Jeff Johnson gave a keynote address on the need for interoperable communications. Discussions focused on public safety applications, cybersecurity, policy, and legislative updates. APCO leadership also updated members on the group’s recent filings in support of FirstNet.

FirstNet CEO Mike Poth delivered the keynote address to representatives from public safety and industry at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) LTE Critical Infrastructure Forum last Wednesday in Chicago, Illinois. He stressed that FirstNet would not trade quality for expediency to complete the network procurement process. Continue reading →

PSC Europe Forum Conference, 23 & 24 November 2016, & Joint Workshop by COncORDE and IMPRESS, 22 November 2016 in Athens, Greece

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Rossella Mattioli from European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) will talk about ‘Enhancing infrastructure cybersecurity in Europe’. ENISA is working together with European experts to identify pragmatic solutions to cybersecurity challenges for Critical Information Infrastructures, Internet infrastructure, ICS SCADA and transport infrastructure in Europe.

The agency has undertaken several activities to support relevant stakeholders by helping them to improve their security practices and by raising awareness to both industry and the public sector. This talk with provide an overview on the latest efforts, future steps and how you can help in securing Europe information society.

Topic: ‘Enhancing infrastructure cybersecurity in Europe.’ This topic and many more will be presented and discussed by experts in the field. Next to that, roundtable discussions and collaborative sessions will be hosted.

Find the complete preliminary programme and all practical information on the PSCE website. The conference is hosted in Radisson Blu Park Hotel in Athens. The Radisson Blu Park Hotel also offers rooms for a reduced price to conference guests. Book your stay with this form and e-mail it to the Radisson Blu Park Hotel.

 

OEC Outreach Clips: OEC and NCSWIC Partner to Develop a MOU to Improve Interoperability, Source SAFECOM Blog

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The Office of Emergency Communications (OEC), in cooperation with several federal departments and agencies, developed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will allow State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial public safety agencies to use federal Law Enforcement and Incident Response (LE/IR) channels to improve emergency communications interoperability. The MOU is from the recent changes in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Manual of Regulations and Procedures for Federal Radio Frequency Management (NTIA Manual section 4.3.16) governing how federal LE/IR channels can be used.

OEC and NCSWIC Partner to Develop a MOU to Improve Interoperability

Establishing a New SAFECOM Executive Committee: SAFECOM Governance Committee Revised the SAFECOM Charter and Held SAFECOM Leadership Elections, Source SAFECOM Blog

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Over the past few months, the SAFECOM Governance Committee meticulously worked to establish a new SAFECOM Executive Committee (EC) governance structure, revise the SAFECOM Charter, and assist in holding SAFECOM leadership elections. Revisions to the SAFECOM Charter were based primarily on the Governance Committee’s recommendations to establish the new SAFECOM EC governance structure, which were approved by the EC in July 2016. The Governance Committee met in August 2016 to review the new EC structure and revise the SAFECOM Charter to align the document with the approved recommendations. The Charter was approved by the EC in September 2016. Establishing a New SAFECOM Executive Committee, the SAFECOM Governance Committee Revised the SAFECOM Charter and Held SAFECOM Leadership Elections

Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, November 4, 2016

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Waiting and Watching: The November 1 goal set by FirstNet to announce the RFP winner has come and gone. However, the CEO stated before and since the first of November that progress is being made. Part of the issue is that while FirstNet is what should be considered a quasi-federal agency (since Congress dubbed it an “Independent Authority”), it has had to fight for that status. In the beginning FirstNet was too tightly controlled by the NTIA and only in the past two years has it been able to even appoint a CEO or president. The CEO is saying all of the right things including that FirstNet will not shortcut the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulation) process.

It should be noted here that there are actually two contracting officers involved in this RFP process. One works for the U. S. Department of the Interior, which is also the source-selection authority (SSA) for FirstNet but then FirstNet has its own contracting officer on staff. The FirstNet contracting officer was the original U.S. Department of the Interior contracting officer and is now on the FirstNet payroll. It is not clear who will be making the final decision but I would think most of the negotiations are out of the comfort zone of any contracting officer because he/she should have to deal with network coverage, expansion, and perhaps many nitty gritty details that are of vital importance to the Public Safety community, though they might seem irrelevant to a contracting officer. Continue reading →

OEC Outreach Clips: Standard for 9-1-1 National Address Database Released, Source Mission Critical Communications

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The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) released a new standard, titled Location Accuracy Improvements for Emergency Calls (ATIS-0700028 v1.1), which defines the architecture and requirements for buildout of the 9-1-1 National Emergency Address Database (NEAD), as well as how information in the database will be processed. Standard for 9-1-1 National Address Database Released

OEC Outreach Clips: DHS still waiting on NPPD reorg

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The Department of Homeland Security’s plan to reorganize and rename the National Protection and Programs Directorate is still stuck on Capitol Hill, according to one of NPPD’s top officials. When asked about the status of the plan at a Nov. 2 conference, Phyllis Schneck, deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity and communications at NPPD, said, “I wish I knew.” She and other DHS officials have been trying to keep the reorganization’s profile high on Congress’ agenda for the past few months. DHS still waiting on NPPD reorg