Month: January 2017

FCC: National EAS Test Successful, But Several Improvements Possible

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January 3, 2017–The second nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in September (TRDaily, Sept. 28, 2016) was “successful,” but several actions can be taken to further improve the system, according to the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.The bureau released a three-page public notice Dec. 28 announcing its initial findings from the 2016 nationwide EAS test.

The first nationwide test occurred in 2011. A report released in 2013 by the bureau said that the earlier test “demonstrated that the national EAS distribution architecture is basically sound,” but it also “uncovered several problems that impeded the ability of some EAS Participants to receive and/or retransmit” alerts (TRDaily, April 15, 2013). The 2013 report recommended a number of steps that should be taken to strengthen the EAS and said that another nationwide test should be conducted after that. Continue reading →

Sprint Cites 800 MHz Band Progress

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January 4, 2017–Sprint Corp. has noted in its latest report on 800 megahertz rebanding in WT docket 02-55 that “only 12 Regions of the 55 NPSPAC Regions remain incomplete. Excluding the five Regions located within in the U.S. – Mexican Border Area, only two individual licensees (one public safety and one non-public safety) remain to fully complete 800 MHz band reconfiguration in the seven non-border NPSPAC areas of the United States.”

Courtesy TRDaily

OEC Outreach Clips: Reardon Elected Chairman of SAFECOM, Source Mission Critical Communications

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Fire Chief Gerald Reardon was elected chairman of SAFECOM, a mission-guided and stakeholder-supported public-safety communications program of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC). Chief Reardon, a long-time member of SAFECOM, is a chief engineer commanding the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Fire Department, where he has served in various capacities for nearly 40 years.  Chief Reardon is affiliated with several other public-safety organizations, including the Fire Chief’s Association of Massachusetts, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Reardon Elected Chairman of SAFECOM

OEC Outreach Clips: NGA Policy Academy Addresses Governance for New Technologies, Source (November/December issue) – Mission Critical Communications (Note: The article begins on P. 8)

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The Department of Homeland Security Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) and the National Governors Association (NGA) are working together to help states address the newest challenges of interoperability and governance. On April 7, 2016, OEC and NGA officially announced the Policy Academy on Enhancing Emergency Communications Interoperability. Its mission: To address the constantly-evolving challenges of interoperability, so that when the next emergency strikes, we are fully prepared. The policy academy’s mission is not just important, it’s timely. We are at a critical juncture in addressing the challenge of interoperability because the pace of technological change has not only accelerated in recent years, it has fundamentally transformed the emergency communications landscape.  NGA Policy Academy Addresses Governance for New Technologies

FCC Seeks Comment on Earth Station Coordination

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January 4, 2017–The FCC sought comment today on Canada’s request for frequency coordination for three Canadian earth stations operating in the 3700-4200 megahertz and 5925-6425 MHz bands. Parties may file comments by Feb. 3 and should reference Report No. SPB-266. If no adverse comments are received, the earth stations will be considered coordinated.

OEC Outreach Clips: OEC Shares Lessons Learned with Canadian Colleagues, Source SAFECOM Blog

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On November 29, the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) Deputy Director Chris Essid shared key lessons learned on emergency communications governance with leading Canadian public safety stakeholders during the Tenth Canadian Public Safety Interoperability Workshop, also known as the Communications Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG), in Vancouver, British Columbia. OEC and the National Governors Association (NGA) gathered lessons from several recent co-sponsored Policy Academies on Enhancing Emergency Communications Interoperability.  The CITIG workshop addressed key voice and data interoperability issues facing public safety users, with a special focus on broadband.  Much of the discussion centered on planning for the Canadian public safety broadband network and the need for strong governance.

Commission Working to Fix ECFS

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January 4, 2017–The FCC is working to fix a problem that made it impossible to view documents filed with the Commission in the past couple of days. “ECFS should be working normally now for documents filed after around 1:30 pm today,” said Will Wiquist, an FCC spokesman. “As for the documents filed before that time, there are about 80 documents that we are actively working on. We hope to restore access to these documents soon.”

 

APCO, New York City Oppose CTIA’s WEA Petition But T-Mobile Supports It

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January 4, 2017–The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International and the New York City Emergency Management Department (NYCEM) have filed oppositions to a petition for reconsideration submitted by CTIA last month (TRDaily, Dec. 2, 2016) asking the FCC to reconsider portions of a wireless emergency alert (WEA) order adopted in September (TRDaily, Sept. 29, 2016). But T-Mobile US, Inc., supports CTIA’s petition.

In its petition filed in PS dockets 15-91 and 15-94, CTIA asked the Commission to (1) “[d]efer mandating implementation of embedded references until after feasibility testing and standards efforts are completed;” (2) “[c]larify the definition of ‘clickable’ links;” (3) “[c]larify that support for embedded references, to the extent required, need only be supported by new devices, and not older, legacy devices;” and (4) “[c]larify that, because they are inextricably connected, the compliance date for supporting Spanish-language Alert Messages will be concurrent with the compliance date for increasing the character-count of Message Alerts.” Continue reading →

Drone Defibrillators, Real-Time Video Seen as Benefits of FirstNet Broadband

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January 4, 2017–LAS VEGAS — Drone defibrillators and real-time video from stand-offs with barricaded suspects are among the ways in which broadband can transform public safety response, according to panelists in a CES 2017 session on the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

Maggie Goodrich, chief information officer for the Los Angeles Police Department, said that the video generated by in-vehicle and body-worn cameras in her department already exceeds the capacity for humans to review it, but that “certainly there are instances” where remote downloads and livestreaming “would be helpful,” rather than having to wait for officers to return to the station to download the video from their cameras. She added, “It probably won’t be used for every call, but with a barricaded suspect, live-streaming back to the command post would be helpful.” She also suggested that non-human monitoring of video could help in determining “whether cameras are being turned off and when they should.” Continue reading →

OEC Outreach Clips: Comments Requested on Nonstandard P25 Encryption CAP Document, Source Mission Critical Communications

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) released a draft Project 25 (P25) Compliance Assessment Bulletin (CAB) to “to stop the practice of manufacturers providing subscriber units with a non-P25 standard encryption without also including P25 standard AES 256 encryption.” Comments Requested on Nonstandard P25 Encryption CAP Document