Month: April 2018

Implementation of NET 911 Improvement ACT of 2008: Location Information from Owners and Controllers of 911 and E911 Capabilities

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Abstract: In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, an information collection requirement associated with the Implementation of the NET 911 Improvement Act of 2008: Location Information from Owners and Controllers of 911 and E911 Capabilities Report and Order (NET 911 Improvement Act of 2008 Report and Order), FCC 08-249. This document is consistent with the NET 911 Improvement Act of 2008 Report and Order, which…

FR Document: 2018-08568; Citation: 83 FR 17933; PDF Pages 17933-17934 (2 pages)
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This article covers Mr. Donovan’s T-Band questioning: http://www.silive.com/news/2018/04/rep_daniel_donoan_holds_anti-t.htm

 Watch the hearing  online: https://homeland.house.gov/hearing/securing-our-communities-federal-support-to-high-risk-urban-areas/  (2:23:58 is where a question on T-Band is asked).

FirstNet Vice Chairman Joined Sonim Board Last Summer

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First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson joined the board of directors of Sonim Technologies, Inc., last summer, although the appointment was not announced until last week, Sonim President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Plaschke told TR Daily today. Mr. Johnson’s resignation from the board was announced over the weekend.

Mr. Plaschke said that Sonim and Mr. Johnson consulted with legal staff at the Commerce Department before Mr. Johnson joined the board to ensure that it was permitted. They were told it was under certain conditions.

Sonim’s general counsel had two conversations with a Commerce Department ethics lawyer and was told that the appointment could proceed as long as FirstNet had no contractual relationship with Sonim, Mr. Johnson received “reasonable” compensation as a board member, and he recused himself if the board ever discussed Sonim specifically, according to Mr. Plaschke. Sonim is a vendor to AT&T and does not have a contractual relationship with FirstNet. Mr. Plaschke declined to say how much Mr. Johnson was paid to serve on the board. Continue reading →

O’Rielly Criticizes Puerto Rico 911 Fund Diversion

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FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly today criticized Puerto Rico’s diversion of 911 funds and suggested he would oppose approving additional universal service funds to the island if it doesn’t end the diversion practice.

Mr. O’Rielly wrote a letter dated today to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello Nevares responding to a March 7 letter the governor wrote him that responded to a Feb. 20 letter that Mr. O’Rielly sent to the governors of Puerto Rico, New York, Oklahoma, Missouri, Montana, Northern Mariana, and Guam asking why they did not submit requested information to the FCC for its latest annual report on 911 fund diversions (TR Daily, Feb. 20).

In his letter to Mr. O’Rielly, Gov. Nevares said that Puerto Rico collected the requested information but did not send it “due to a clerical error. We have taken measures to ensure that this situation does not happen again and we include herein the forms for the requested year.” Continue reading →

Denver Post Reports: Can a button save a life?

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Uber think its new in-app 911 feature, being tested in Denver this summer, could be a needed lifeline for passengers

Transportation tech giant Uber will pilot a new feature of its popular ride-sharing app in Denver this summer: 911 integration. Announced Thursday in a blog post by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the pilot program will rely on an emergency button that Uber will soon add to its mobile app. The button, which will be available to riders and drivers, will connect the user directly with emergency dispatchers if activated. In Denver, it will go one step farther, automatically sharing the vehicle’s location and trip details with dispatchers.

Read more here: https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/12/denver-uber-pilot-emergency-button-program/

GAO: FEMA Takes Steps to Improve Grant Management

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency has taken steps to improve its management of state, local, and tribal preparedness grants, but challenges remain, the Government Accountability Office told Congress today. “GAO reported in March 2011 on the need for FEMA to improve its oversight of preparedness grants by establishing a framework with measurable performance objectives for assessing urban area, state, territory, and tribal capabilities to identify gaps and prioritize investments.

Specifically, GAO recommended that FEMA complete a national preparedness assessment of capability gaps at each level based on tiered, capability-specific performance objectives to enable prioritization of grant funding. FEMA has taken some steps to address GAO’s prior recommendation,” Chris Currie, GAO’s director-Homeland Security and Justice Team, said in prepared testimony today for a field hearing in New York of the House Homeland Security Committee’s emergency preparedness, response, and communications subcommittee. “Specifically, in February 2018, FEMA reported developing capability-specific performance objectives that will enable a national preparedness assessment of capability gaps. However, FEMA plans to finalize these efforts in 2020 and it is too early to tell how this will impact grant allocations. Until these efforts are completed, GAO will not be able to determine the extent that they address past challenges and recommendations.”

Courtesy TRDaily

FirstNet Vice Chairman Johnson Resigns from Vendor Board

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First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson has resigned from the board of directors of Sonim Technologies, Inc., a public safety device maker, shortly after the company announced the appointment.

“Today, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that FirstNet Board Vice Chairman Jeff Johnson has resigned from his position as a member of the board of Sonim Technologies,” NTIA said in a statement released Saturday. “While he consulted with ethics officials before joining the board of Sonim, and received guidance on the proper recusals, Mr. Johnson determined that FirstNet’s mission would best be served by his resignation in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. We thank Mr. Johnson for his service and dedication to FirstNet.”

NTIA, at which FirstNet is housed, declined to provide details on specifics on recusal guidance provided to Mr. Johnson and whether NTIA believes that, in retrospect, the ethics guidance he was given was lacking. FirstNet declined to comment and Mr. Johnson, who is chief executive officer of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, and FirstNet Chairwoman Sue Swenson did not respond to e-mails from TR Daily seeking comment.

On Thursday, Sonim issued a press release announcing the appointment of Mr. Johnson and two others to the company’s board. Continue reading →

SAFECOM-NCSWIC Quarterly Newsletter Spring 2018 Newsletter Released

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The SAFECOM-NCSWIC Quarterly Newsletter was published on April 18, 2018. In this edition of the newsletter, Ron Hewitt, Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) Director, provides an update on OEC’s partnership with the National Governors Association to enhance public safety communications governance through regional workshops and the Communications Section Task Force’s recent achievements in working to elevate the communications function to a Communications Section within the General staff. Updates were also provided by Chief Gerald Reardon, SAFECOM Chair, and Nikki Cassingham, National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) Chair. The newsletter highlights telecommunications successes during the 2017 hurricane season and the Fiscal Year 2018 SAFECOM Grant Guidance.

SAFECOM-NCSWIC Blog. The blog recently highlighted OEC’s participation at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE), National Telecommunicator Day, and the recent publication of the Public Safety Communications Resiliency—Ten Keys to Obtaining a Resilient Local Access Network document.

 The SAFECOM-NCSWIC Blog serves as a great tool for information sharing and dissemination.  On the blog, we highlight current events, activities, accomplishments, updates, opinion pieces, and innovative ideas from the SAFECOM and NCSWIC community.  If you have relevant public safety communications information you would like to share with the public safety stakeholder community, please send ideas to the SAFECOM Inbox or NCSWIC Inbox.

 

Entities Seek Extension of 911 NOI Reply Comment Deadline

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Public safety and industry entities have asked the FCC to extend by one week the reply comment deadline for a notice of inquiry adopted last month looking at ways to ensure that 911 calls placed from mobile phones reach the correct public safety answering point (PSAP) (TR Daily, March 22). Comments are due May 7 and replies June 21 in PS docket 18-64. In a joint motion for an extension filed yesterday seeking an extension of the reply comment deadline to June 28, the entities cited the timing of the National Emergency Number Association’s annual conference in Nashville June 16-21.

“Granting a one-week extension of time will allow these critical stakeholders time to review, analyze, and comment on all of the comments in the record, without direct time constraint conflicts between preparing NOI reply comments regarding location-based routing for wireless 9-1-1 calls and other 9-1-1 efforts associated with the NENA Conference.,” the filing argued. The filing was submitted by NENA, the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators, the Texas 9-1-1 Entities, West Safety Services, Inc., Comtech Communications, Inc., and CTIA.

Courtesy TRDailly

Coalition Emphasizes Homeland Security Importance of 3.5 GHz Band

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Members of the Industrial Internet of Things Coalition have asked the FCC to consider the impact on “national and homeland security” of the rules it adopts for priority access licenses (PALs) in the 3.5 gigahertz band Citizens Broadband Radio Service.

In an ex parte filing yesterday in GN docket 17-258, the entities emphasized the importance of the FCC’s licensing the spectrum in small enough geographic areas for them to be useful to industrial and critical-infrastructure entities.

“Thus, as the Commission considers different CBRS licensing approaches in this proceeding, the IIoT Coalition urges it to weigh the effects of its policy choices on U.S. national and homeland security,” the filing said. “If industrial and critical-infrastructure companies are able to compete in auctions for census-tract licenses and gain meaningful access to licensed CBRS spectrum, these companies can realize the full benefits of the IIoT revolution, including improved safety, security, and system resilience at America’s critical-infrastructure facilities. With a full understanding of the complexity of their own operations, industrial and critical-infrastructure entities will be able to employ essential IIoT security, device, and network control features to further safeguard their core-mission operations from foreign and domestic hacking efforts and cyber intrusions, to the great benefit of the American public.” Continue reading →

Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, April 19, 2018

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