Month: July 2018

DHS Invites You to NECP Webinar on Wednesday, July 18, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET

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Event: 2019 National Emergency Communications Plan National Development Webinar

Date and TIme: Wednesday, July 18th, 2018, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT

Dial-in (For Audio): (800) 786-1918

Webinar Link (For Visual): https://share.dhs.gov/necp2019

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) seeks your knowledge on issues affecting public safety communications to inform updates to the 2019 National Emergency Communication Plan. Stakeholder input is key to ensuring critical issues are considered and addressed in the revised plan. Learn about revision efforts and use this opportunity to share your expertise on July 18th, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT.

The NECP is a forward-thinking, strategic document, driven by stakeholder feedback, which aims to guide the nation now and into the future toward improved operability and interoperability. Stakeholder input will inform NECP development phases for publication in 2019.

Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, July 11, 2018

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PTT Interoperability—Sweet Spot for FirstNet?

First, let me be very clear, this is NOT about Mission-Critical PTT (which may someday be available and used for dispatch, day-to-day patrols, and local incidents). This is about FirstNet as a platform to provide interoperable push-to-talk during multi-jurisdictional incidents that is in keeping with the premise that motivated the public safety community and others to seek a solution for interoperable communications starting in the 1990s and culminating with the law creating FirstNet, setting aside the D-Block for additional broadband spectrum, and providing a starter kit of $7 billion.

The primary purpose of FirstNet has always been to provide interoperable communications between and among agencies that have different Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems and, therefore, cannot communicate directly with others at the same incident. This lack of interoperability has been a problem for more than thirty years and even after 911, Katrina, and Sandy revealed to the public, the press, and elected officials that there was a huge problem, it still took the public safety community with support from others until 2012 to establish FirstNet and another five years to become a reality.

FirstNet was designed to provide interoperable data and video, with voice to remain on LMR for many years to come. However, during the time FirstNet was organizing and issuing its RFP for a commercial partner, there were a number of developments in the world of Push-To-Talk voice. The first was that companies such as Qualcomm (QChat), Kodiak (now owned by Motorola), Harris, and ESChat entered the market to provide PTT over broadband.

Read the Entire Post Here Continue reading →

Verizon Supports Colorado Request for Interoperability Clarification

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Verizon Communications, Inc., said today it supports a request by the Colorado Public Safety Broadband Governing Body (CPSBGB) asking the FCC to clarify guidelines and requirements concerning interoperability and roaming between the nationwide public safety broadband network being built by AT&T, Inc., for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and wireless carriers (TR Daily, July 9).

“Interoperability between and among all first responders, regardless of the network they use, is vitally important, and promoting interoperability was one of the principal reasons Congress established FirstNet. It is important that industry standards and agreements between network providers, equipment vendors, and application developers ensure that interoperability objectives are achieved,” Verizon said in an ex parte filing in PS docket 16-269. “Verizon supports the development of such standards and agreements, and looks forward to working with FirstNet, AT&T, the public safety community, and others in the industry, to achieve those goals. Interoperability should be supported across the entire public safety ecosystem and should include interoperability for services, applications, and features (e.g., priority and preemption protocols) used by first responders. The Commission should seek input on this important matter from other public safety agencies and interested stakeholders by placing CPSBGB’s request on Public Notice as soon as possible.”

But amid speculation that the state planned to seek to withdraw its request, TR Daily asked officials there if that was the case.

“We are working to ensure that Colorado can benefit the most from FirstNet’s investment in Colorado. While the intent of the FCC filing was to bring attention to the ongoing need to collaborate with vendors and our local communities, we will work directly with our partners to address these concerns. We plan to provide this update to the FCC,” replied Brandi Wildfang Simmons, chief communications officer and public information officer for the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology. Asked if that meant it would seek to withdraw its request, she replied, “We are looking into our available options.”- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily

Pole Attachment Item Would Delegate Preemption to Bureaus

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The FCC’s draft third report and order and declaratory ruling on pole attachments released today with the tentative agenda for the agency’s Aug. 2 meeting includes several provisions aimed at preempting state and local government actions that the Commission deems to block telecom facilities deployment or inhibit rebuilding or restoration of broadband infrastructure after a disaster.

The draft item would include a provision delegating authority to act petitions for preemption of moratoria to the Wireline Competition and Wireless Telecommunications bureaus.

Also on the tentative agenda for the Aug. 2 meeting are a draft public notice to set procedures for auctions of 28 gigahertz and 24 GHz band spectrum; a draft further notice of proposed rulemaking on changes to the rules for the 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands to facilitate a planned auction next year; a draft notice of proposed rulemaking to provide TV repacking funding to low-power TV, TV translator, and FM radio stations; a draft notice of inquiry seeking input on a potential telehealth pilot program; and a draft report and order to establish rules for a broadcast ownership diversity incubator program.

As FCC Chairman Ajit noted yesterday in a blog post (TR Daily, July 11), the pole attachment item stems in part from a “one-touch-make-ready” (OTMR) recommendation pole developed by the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee, which has been criticized for its sparse local and state government representation, compared to industry members.

The FCC said today in a fact sheet accompanying the draft text in WC docket 17-84 and WT docket 17-49 that the declaratory ruling “would conclude that section 253(a) of the Communications Act prohibits state and local moratoria on telecommunications facilities deployment.”

It would define “‘moratoria’ barred by section 253(a) to include both express moratoria and de facto moratoria that effectively halt or suspend the acceptance, processing, or approval of applications or permits,” the fact sheet says.

The draft declaratory ruling would also “[d]etermine that moratoria are generally not protected by the exceptions to the section 253(a) prohibition” and would “[d]irect the Wireline Competition Bureau and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau to act promptly on petitions challenging specific alleged moratoria.”

The draft third report order would also include a preemption provision making “clear” that the FCC “will preempt, on a case-by-case basis, state and local laws that inhibit the rebuilding or restoration of broadband infrastructure after a disaster.  Continue reading →

FCC Moves to Clear Path to Nationwide Number Portability

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The FCC today took steps intended to help clear the path toward nationwide number portability (NNP) by giving carriers that hand calls off to each other flexibility in deciding which carrier will query the number portability database and by granting competitive local exchange carriers the forbearance previously granted incumbent local exchange from legacy “dialing-parity” rules— thus ensuring that both incumbent and competitive carriers “will be able to route calls more efficiently in a future NNP environment.”

The FCC noted in a press release that it has asked the North American Numbering Council “to continue to provide input on the relative costs, benefits, and technical requirements of two of the possible nationwide number portability mechanisms, as well as the next steps the Commission and industry should take to achieve full nationwide number portability.”  The NANC recently approved a working group report assessing various approaches to NNP and recommending further inquiry and analysis on NNP issues.

The report and order in WC dockets 17-244 and 13-97 adopted unanimously by the FCC at its meeting today “acknowledges that more complex and difficult leaps will be needed to reach fully operational portability.  But, today’s steps, however minor, should be of help,” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said.  Continue reading →

FCC Seeks to Improve Reliability of Emergency Alerts

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The FCC adopted a report and order and further notice of proposed rulemaking today to improve the reliability of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and wireless emergency alerts (WEAs) in the wake of a false ballistic missile alert in Hawaii in January (TR Daily, Jan. 16).

“In a Report and Order adopted today, the Commission set forth procedures for authorized state and local officials to conduct ‘live code’ tests of the Emergency Alert System, which use the same alert codes and processes as would be used in actual emergencies.  These tests can increase the proficiency of local alerting officials while educating the public about how to respond to actual alerts.  The procedures adopted by the Commission require appropriate coordination, planning, and disclaimers to accompany any such test,” said a news release on the item, which was adopted in PS dockets 15-94 and 15-91.

“To further enhance public awareness, today’s action will also permit authorized Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about the Emergency Alert System to include the system’s Attention Signal (the attention-grabbing two-tone audio signal that precedes the alert message) and simulated Header Code tones (the three audible tones that precede the Attention Signal) so long as an appropriate disclaimer is included in the PSA,” the news release added. “Today’s action also requires Emergency Alert System equipment to be configured in a manner that can help prevent false alerts and requires an Emergency Alert System participant, such as a broadcaster or cable system, to inform the Commission if it discovers that it has transmitted a false alert.  In addition, in an accompanying Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission seeks comment on other specific measures to help stakeholders prevent and correct false alerts.  The Commission also seeks comment on the performance of Wireless Emergency Alerts, including how such performance should be measured and whether, and if so how, the Commission should address inconsistent delivery of these messages.” Continue reading →

Lawmakers Urge FCC to Move on 6 GHz Band

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Reps. Brett Guthrie (R., Ky.) and Doris Matsui (D., Calif.), co-chairs of the Congressional Spectrum Caucus, urged the FCC today to move forward with proposed rules for the 6 gigahertz band. “Your 2017 Mid-Band Notice of Inquiry (NOI) appropriately focused on the importance of additional mid-band spectrum allocations for both licensed and unlicensed services and recognized the need to address them together. We understand that you will move to an NPRM on opening the 5.925-6.425 and 6.425-7.125 GHz bands (collectively, the ‘6 GHz band’) for unlicensed use in the fall,” the lawmakers said in a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “As you address the demand for mid-band spectrum, we would urge you to take action on the 6 GHz band NPRM expeditiously while also carefully considering the needs of incumbent and critical infrastructure networks.

Importantly, the NPRM process will allow all stakeholders to provide valuable input on the ex ante requirements necessary to protect incumbents, and give opportunity to evaluate proposals for interference protection, technical coexistence between users, and how to reliably resolve potential interference should it occur.”

Courtesy TRDaily

FEMA Plans to Conduct Nationwide EAS, WEA Tests

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency has asked the FCC for a limited waiver to allow wireless carriers to participate in a nationwide wireless emergency alert (WEA) test on Sept. 20, with a secondary test date of Oct. 3. “This will be the first nationwide test of WEA utilizing the Presidential level code,” FEMA said in an ex parte filing yesterday in PS dockets 15-91 and 15-94. “This test is necessary because it will determine if carrier WEA configuration, systems, and networks can and will process a Presidential WEA delivering the message via all WEA enabled cell sites with minimal latency.”

FEMA said it also wants to conduct the fourth nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) test the same day.

Courtesy TRDaily

AT&T Rolling Out FirstNet Emergency Response Initiative

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AT&T, Inc., is rolling out an emergency response initiative to ensure there is a more coordinated response to customers it serves on the nationwide public safety broadband network it is building for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), company officials said today, citing delays experienced  during the 2017 hurricane season.

During an event organized by AT&T this afternoon, Fred Scalera, director-strategy and policy for AT&T’s FirstNet program, said that during last year’s hurricane season, AT&T received multiple requests for deployable equipment and other assistance but there was a lack of coordination among states and federal agencies and AT&T lacked the authority to deploy resources with first-line responders.

He said AT&T is in the process of meeting with each state and it plans to prepare a unique emergency response plan that details how assets such as cells on wheels (COWs) will be deployed during emergencies. AT&T also wants to be recognized as a first responder to enable it to deploy the necessary equipment as FirstNet’s network vendor.

The company is proposing that its representatives embed with Emergency Support Function-2, which is responsible for restoring communications after emergencies, in any state or county in an effort to improve response to emergencies.

AT&T will have a national director for FirstNet emergency operations — Mr. Scalera currently serves in that capacity on an acting basis — and it will have 11 managers to oversee coordination in states and with federal agencies, tribes, and the District of Columbia. The carrier also will deploy liaisons at local emergency operations centers during responses.

The goal is to align response with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Response Framework, which would reduce duplication of effort, including by having agreements in place beforehand, including with secondary providers such as power companies, said Ryan Fields-Spack, who is also director-strategy and policy for AT&T’s FirstNet program. He stressed that there will be no charge for FirstNet subscribers for this initiative, saying, “We’re going to completely ingrain this process into our day to day activities.” Continue reading →