Month: May 2017

Partnership, Planned Network

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May 16, 2017–First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T, Inc., officials today touted their 25-year partnership and the benefits to public safety of the planned nationwide public safety broadband network. But the chairman and co-chief executive officer of Rivada Networks LLC, which led a consortium that lost a bid for the FirstNet contract, suggested today that states would get short-changed if they allowed AT&T to build their radio access networks (RANs).

In remarks this morning at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International’s Public Safety Broadband Summit & Expo, FirstNet CEO Mike Poth and Jim Bugel, AT&T’s vice president-FirstNet state plans and acquisitions, said that states that agree to allow AT&T to build their RANs will get immediate priority access on all of AT&T’s LTE spectrum and preemption in the fourth quarter of this year and benefit from the economies of scale, pricing, and coverage that come from a national carrier.

Mr. Bugel did not discuss pricing or coverage details, but he said that they would be in draft state plans that are due to be released in mid-June, following a national state plan kickoff meeting with state single points of contact (SPOCs) June 7–8 in Dallas. Continue reading →

WinnForum Objects to CBRS Name

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May 15, 2017–The Wireless Innovation Forum has asked the FCC to reconsider its plan in a part 95 order scheduled to be adopted at this week’s May 18 meeting to rename the Citizens Band Radio Service the CB Radio Service and use the CBRS acronym.

“WInnForum reminds the Commission that there is already a designation for ‘CBRS’, which is the [Citizens] Broadband Radio Service as defined fully in 47 CFR Part 96 for the 3.5 GHz Band,” the group said in an ex parte fling in WT docket 10-119 and GN docket 15-319. “We are extremely concerned that another designation for ‘CBRS’ will certainly not avoid confusion and will indeed cause substantial confusion in the ecosystem for the 3.5 GHz CBRS. In addition, we are also concerned that we will now have to distinguish the 3.5 GHz CBRS from the CB Radio Service CBRS in order to avoid confusion in all of our documentation. This will impose a significant burden on the WInnForum and its members. … We ask that the Commission remove the CBRS designation for the Part 95 CB Radio Service.” Continue reading →

Houston Mayor Criticizes Pai’s Super Bowl Comments

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May 15, 2017–In an unusual request, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D.) wants the FCC “to correct inaccurate statements” that he says FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made when the FCC last month adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of inquiry to explore ways to remove regulatory barriers on the siting of wireless infrastructure (TR Daily, April 20). The mayor said the Chairman’s comments complaining about roadblocks to beefing up capacity before this year’s Super Bowl were “prejudicial” to Houston.

In his statement on the item, Mr. Pai said wireless companies faced difficulty increasing network capacity before this year’s Super Bowl in Houston, saying that “meeting this commitment was much harder than it should’ve been. For instance, one company ended up paying thousands of dollars per utility pole for purposes of meeting historic preservation requirements. Now, it’s hard to imagine that there is much to preserve, historically speaking, in the parking lot of NRG Stadium. After all, initial construction started in the early 2000s. Yet this company was forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in total to complete this review — excessive costs that both delayed construction and were ultimately passed on to consumers.”

In his letter, Mayor Turner said neither Mr. Pai’s statement about a company finding it costly to meet historic preservation requirements nor that it incurred overall expenses of hundreds of thousands of dollars “is true.” He said that the NRG Stadium complex is owned by the Harris County Sports and Convention Corp. and isn’t on city property that would be subject to its rights-of-way review fees. Continue reading →

APCO Criticizes Rivada for Trying to Convince States to Opt Out

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May 15 2017–The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International’s chief counsel today criticized Rivada Networks LLC and other companies that have tried to convince states to opt out of having AT&T, Inc., the First Responder Network Authority’s (FirstNet) contract partner, build radio access networks (RANs) in their states. In a blog posting, Jeff Cohen, who is also APCO’s director-government relations, said that “the ink was barely dry on the FirstNet legislation when vendors and consultants began preying on states to convince them to opt-out, often with false promises of revenue from monetizing the spectrum dedicated to public safety.  These businesses see more profit in keeping public safety divided than helping to achieve the goals of the FirstNet legislation.

“Certain vendors have been quite public about trying to convince states to opt-out and hire them.  One in particular is promoting its dynamic spectrum exchange technology, which has not yet been proven in practice, let alone in a public safety environment,” added Mr. Cohen, referring to Rivada, which saw its bid as part of a consortium to become FirstNet’s network partner fail. Continue reading →

GovTech Reports: Emergency Communications Driving Increase in Amateur Radio Operators, Hams standing by and ready to help during disasters or other events, by James Careless / April 11, 2017

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More Americans than ever have been licensed by the Federal Communications Commission as amateur radio operators, and those in the know say that emergency communications is driving their passion to be “hams.”

“There has been a tremendous amount of interest in emergency preparedness since 9/11 and Katrina, and this is true for the amateur radio community as well,” said Mike Corey, the emergency preparedness manager for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). “Emergency communications is a gateway into amateur radio, and many join our ranks through an interest in being better prepared themselves and as a way to serve their community.”

“This is the third year in a row that the total number of new licenses has exceeded 30,000,” said ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator Manager Maria Somma last year. Read more here on GovTech at http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase-in-Amateur-Radio-Operators.html.

 

GAO Sees ‘Significant Challenges’ Arising from IoT Adoption

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May 15, 2017–“Significant challenges” likely to be presented by “the wide adoption” of Internet of things (IoT) technologies include vulnerability to hacking, the need for security and privacy measures to prevent IoT misuse, and economic disruption “to certain businesses and job categories,” the Government Accountability Office said in a technology assessment report published today.

The report explains IoT technology; looks at its uses and benefits in various sectors, including wearables, smart homes, vehicles, manufacturing, health care, agriculture, and energy; and considers implications for information security, privacy, safety, governmental oversight, standards development, economic ramifications, and managing IoT’s use of electromagnetic spectrum.

GAO reviewed “key reports and scientific literature describing current and developing IoT technologies and their uses” and “interviewed agency officials from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), researchers, and other industry experts. We participated in conferences on the latest uses and implications of the IoT to discuss and gather data and viewpoints from various perspectives. In addition, we collaborated with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to convene two meetings of experts, one focused on IoT technologies and the other focused on the implications of those technologies.” Continue reading →

S&T Press Release: DHS S&T, Netherlands Counterparts Announce Bilateral Funding Opportunity

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Program will fund joint U.S.-Dutch Cybersecurity Research Teams

WASHINGTON —The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and its counterparts in the Netherlands jointly announced today an opportunity to provide up to $2.6 million of funding for collaborative cybersecurity research projects conducted by joint U.S.-Dutch teams.

The Dutch partners in the bilateral call are the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the country’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), which is part of the Ministry of Security and Justice. S&T’s Cyber Security Division (CSD) Director Dr. Douglas Maughan, NCSC Head of Cyber Security Expertise and Advice Raymond Doijen, and NWO Program Manager of Cybersecurity Research Jan Piet Barthel made the announcement today during the International One Conference in The Hague.

“Cybersecurity concerns do not stop at national borders,” said DHS Under Secretary (Acting) for Science and Technology Dr. Robert Griffin. “This new international bilateral agreement recognizes this reality by funding joint U.S.-Dutch research teams to develop capabilities that will benefit both countries.”  Continue reading →

Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, May 16, 2017

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 Changes Coming To My Readers Please note that there will be no Public Safety Advocate this week (5/18/2017). I will be traveling to the Dayton HamVention amateur radio conference as I have for countless years. The Public Safety Advocate will resume with a post on Thursday, May 25, 2017. Meanwhile, I want to let you know that the next issue will be coming to you from a new site. I am excited about being a part of this new site that will formally launch soon. It will not only include my Public Safety Advocate, it will be a true resource for what is happening in the world of Public Safety communications. While FirstNet and all things related will be the primary subject of the new site, Land Mobile Radio (LMR) will be featured as well since it is a vital part of the Public Safety communications arsenal. I will be back next week with my next Public Safety Advocate coming to you from the new site. Andrew M. Seybold The News Follows:

FirstNet Update: First month of partnership yields significant progress – Petrilla News via Google Alerts May 10 00:05 The State Plans will include how FirstNet’s Radio Access Network (RAN) is to be built, including planned phases of deployment, network policies, and … Continue reading →

S&T Blog: Honoring Fallen Officers

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Last Friday, S&T attended and livestreamed the Federal Protective Service (FPS) Wreath Laying Ceremony in honor of officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. It was an honor for us to bring this ceremony to those who could not attend, and to show our support to the men and women who protect our communities, federal facilities, ports of entry and borders every day.

Secretary Kelly—joined by Deputy Secretary Elaine Duke, FPS Director L. Eric Patterson and U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft—shared moving words about the value law enforcement officers bring to our communities and our nation.  Continue reading →

SAFECOM and NCSWIC Encourage Public Safety to Adopt Trustmark Framework

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At their biannual meetings May 2 – 4, 2017, SAFECOM and the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) Executive Committees unanimously approved a position paper encouraging public safety agencies to adopt and leverage the Trustmark Framework. This represents a critical step by public safety officials to address key security concerns arising from an increasingly interconnected environment.

In 2016, SAFECOM and NCSWIC established the Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) Working Group to help address ICAM-related issues that impact emergency communications and information sharing. The ICAM Working Group quickly recognized that interoperability and scalability between ICAM solutions are critical for the future of secure information sharing within the public safety community. Prior to the creation of the work group, public safety leaders had called for a nationwide federated ICAM solution. The ICAM Working Group determined that encouraging public safety agencies to adopt and leverage the Trustmark Framework, which aids interoperability between ICAM solutions, would be their first step in the community’s broader effort to achieve a nationwide federated ICAM solution. Trustmark Framework Position Paper which was accepted by the Joint SAFECOM and NCSWIC Technology Policy Committee before being submitted to the Executive Committees further explains the need for the Trustmark Framework and the benefits of widespread adoption for public safety. Continue reading →