Interesting developments this week, not only for Public Safety but for the entire telecommunications industry. On the Public Safety side the FirstNet Board of Directors voted to release a draft of the upcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) for partners and permit comments for a 90 day period. FirstNet says they are still on track to release the final RFP by the end of the year.
This RFP is a make or break event for FirstNet: If they do not attract some qualified partner bids, I am not sure they have any alternative plans. They stressed the desire not only for nationwide responses but regional responses and those including multiple partners as well. Having listened to the discussion I have to wonder who has come up with the valuation they are using for excess spectrum leasing. According to FirstNet they expect that these payments will push them into the Black. I hope they are correct!
Next up is great news from our friends to the North. The Canadian Government recently approved 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum and $3 million in funding to take the initial steps to the foundation for the network. There has already been discussions about cross border issues and I am sure that there will be an agreement. Canada appears to be moving slowly with the first funds allocated for planning over a 3 year period but hopefully, based on the lessons learned from FirstNet, the Canadian’s will move forward more quickly.
Also this week is the announcement that Comcast is withdrawing their over $45 Billion bid for Time Warner. It appears as if both Justice and the FCC are said to have voiced strong concerns. What is most interesting to me is that it is not the cable business that the Feds are having a problem with but rather the delivery of the Internet! They feel that if the merger was permitted to happen too many of us would have to deal with a single company for Internet access and that the new company could impact the price of Internet delivery. The Feds did not say that the cable TV portion of the merger would be approved, just cited as their reason the Internet issue which I thought was interesting considering these are two of the largest cable TV companies in the U.S. The other news and a few more comments are below, enjoy your week-end! Andy
Canada Takes Key Step Toward Public Safety Broadband Network – FirstNet via Google Alerts Apr 24 05:55 This week a key development occurred for the creation of a Canadian public safety broadband network. On Tuesday, April 21, the government of …
Go, or No Go? New LA-RICS public-safety LTE plan gives NTIA, FirstNet a lot to consider – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Apr 23 18:00 If built, an LA-RICS LTE network will be the largest public-safety LTE network in the nation, andright or wrongthere will be a perception among …
FCC Closures? Who You Gonna Call? – Radio World via Google Alerts Apr 23 14:10 Unresolved interference to safety of life communications, i.e., marine, aviation and public safety communications, could result in disastrous events not …
FirstNet ‘State Points of Contact’ Hold First Meeting – Government Technology via Google Alerts Apr 21 20:55 SPOCs range from public safety radio systems managers to policy wonks to state Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to The Adjutant General (i.e. …
FirstNet board to consider draft RFP, ‘public-safety-entity’ notice during special meeting on Friday – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Apr 21 14:55 … more input about who should qualify as a public-safety entity that can get priority access to FirstNet’s nationwide public-safety broadband network.
LA City Council approves police sites for new LA-RICS LTE plan, expects NTIA approval – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Apr 18 05:45 … as the location of cell sites for the amended Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) public-safety LTE proposal.
police, fire and paramedic chiefs welcome government of canada action on improving public safety … – Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs via Google Alerts Apr 24 12:30 We applaud the Government of Canada’s commitment to designate a full 20 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band for public safety broadband use, …
FCC Move Could Kill Comcast-TWC Mega Merger – Huffington Post Apr 23 08:30 WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s staff has recommended that the agency designate Comcast Corp’s proposed $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc for a hearing, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, calling it a significant setback for the deal. The recommendation, which would, in effect, put the merger in the hands of an administrative law judge, would be seen as a strong sign the FCC does not believe the deal is in the public interest, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. A hearing could be a drawn-out process, and some regulatory…
Moving too slow on public safety communications – Mark H. Goldberg and Associates Inc. via Google Alerts Apr 22 14:40 A public safety broadband network in the 700 MHz band could facilitate a coordinated response among various Canadian public safety agencies …
NIST issues identity management considerations for FirstNet – Fierce Mobile Government via Google Alerts Apr 22 11:40 The First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet, an independent agency under the Commerce Department, was established to develop, build and …
APCO Announces Approval of a Standard for Public Safety Communications Common Status … – Public Safety Communications – APCO International via Google Alerts Apr 22 07:55 Alexandria, Va. The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International received final approval from the American National …
Public Safety Applications: Helping to Improve Situational Awareness for First Responders – FirstNet via Google Alerts Apr 21 19:00 That’s one of the main reasons the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) created an Application Community or APPComm …
Congress Considers Freeing More Spectrum For Mobile Broadband – MediaPost Communications via Google Alerts Apr 21 18:00 … the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the …
CBO Puts Broadcaster Auction Cut at 25-75 Percent – TV Technology via Google Alerts Apr 21 17:55 … for the Public Safety Trust Fund for funding FirstNet, a proposed nationwide broadband network dedicated to public safety communications.
CBO Projects $25B Net Gain From Incentive Auction – Broadcasting & Cable via Google Alerts Apr 21 15:30 The FirstNet first responder network’s $7 billion price tag and other statutory obligations have already been covered by the AWS-3 auction’s $40 …
US advances GPS back-up system – Maritime Journal via Google Alerts Apr 21 10:10 This would help first responders and law enforcement to more effectively protect the public.” The backup system required by this bill would step in …
LA City Council Supports Revised LA-RICS Plan – MissionCritical Communications, Radio Resource International, and Public Safety Report … via Google Alerts Apr 21 02:45 The LA-RICS revised plan will feature 46 hardened, public-safety-grade wireless 700 MHz broadband sites and an additional two microwave-only …
Spotlight: FCC opens up more spectrum for mobile broadband – FierceMobileIT via Google Alerts Apr 20 15:40 The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules on Friday designed to open more spectrum for mobile broadband. The agency …
FCC moves toward ‘historic’ spectrum sharing plan – CIO India via Google Alerts Apr 20 10:40 “This is a paradigm shift that paves the way for new services, new technologies and more mobile broadband,” she said. “This is big.” The 3.5GHz band …
Budge up, Navy boys, I’ve got some broadband spectrum to flog ” FCC – The Register Apr 18 06:00 150MHz may be opened up in 3.5GHz space, telcos can pay to play or just be friends – US watchdog the FCC hopes to offer more airwaves to telcos in hope they’ll be used to grow mobile broadband coverage in America.
FCC opens government-controlled wireless spectrum for mobile broadband – Nuzzel via Google Alerts Apr 18 05:30 circanews.com Apr 17, 2015, 11:01 AM Industry trade groups have already praised the Federal Communications Commission for addressing the …
National Broadband Map Ntia – FNAF via Google Alerts Apr 18 03:05 The national broadband map fcc.gov, Welcome to the firstever public …
The FCC Votes To Open Usage Of The 3.5GHz Spectrum As Part Of Advanced Spectrum Sharing – Android Headlines – Android News via Google Alerts Apr 18 00:20 As for what the FCC plans to use it for now, it’ll be adopted into uses for commercial purposes as well as mobile broadband. The use of the band will …
Analysts: Verizon’s prospects for winning FirstNet project increasing – Benton Foundation via Google Alerts Apr 17 17:21 … business, analysts at Macquarie Research say they are increasingly of the view that Verizon could win the FirstNet public-safety-network project.
Securing A Public Safety Broadband Network With Identity Management – RF Globalnet via Google Alerts Apr 17 04:45 A nationwide wireless broadband network would provide a mechanism not only to integrate those systems, but also to provide layers of advanced …
Who Can Get a 4.9GHz Public Safety License and How? – Avalan Wireless Blog via Google Alerts Apr 17 02:05 We want to be safe and the FCC is helping. The FCC reserves valuable radio frequencies for public safety authorities that can be used for …
Comcast-TWC Fallout? Big Deals On Hold, Regulation – Investor’s Business Daily Apr 24 12:30 Comcast (CMCSA) pulled the plug on its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable as analysts said the Obama administration’s opposition to the deal is a harbinger of tougher regulation for cable TV and broadband service companies. Both the Justice Justice and the Federal Communications Commission had signaled that the Comcast-TWC deal would be opposed. Many analysts expect major telecom M&A to be put on hold until after the 2016 presidential
700 Mhz Band – Tech Daily via Google Alerts Apr 24 00:50 Reasons nigeria needs adequate spectrum to deploy broadband services, lte, As such, the 700 mhz band, indeed, will enable for long term evolution …
Cybsersecurity Bills Draw Praise – Multichannel News via Google Alerts Apr 23 15:10 Admiral James Barnett, former head of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security bureau and now head of the cybersecurity practice and law …
Consultants Presented FCC With Range of Field Office Options – Radio World via Google Alerts Apr 23 14:10 Some 40% of field time addresses RF spectrum enforcement: 8% is spent on public safety interference, 7% on cellular/LTE interference and another …
MissionCritical Communications, Radio Resource International, and Public Safety Report … – MissionCritical Communications, Radio Resource International, and Public Safety Report … via Google Alerts Apr 22 23:55 Canada’s 2015 Budget Includes $3M, 10 MHz for Public-Safety Broadband Network (4/22/15) Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to …
NCTA chief Powell dishes on net neutrality lawsuits, why Google is more popular than cable … – FierceWireless via Google Alerts Apr 21 13:20 The former FCC chairman is leading the legal fight against the agency’s recently enacted net neutrality rules, which reclassify broadband as a …
CDD Tells NTIA To Bow Out of Drone Privacy – Broadcasting & Cable via Google Alerts Apr 20 18:00 The Center for Digital Democracy says the National Telecommunications & Information Administration should not be overseeing a voluntary drone …
Planning for FirstNet, The Dedicated Nationwide Public Safety Network – Broadband Matters via Google Alerts Apr 18 06:05 Planning for FirstNet, The Dedicated Nationwide Public Safety Network. The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), grew out of a 9/11 …
FCC faces seventh net neutrality lawsuit – Network World Fusion Apr 18 05:00 Broadband provider CenturyLink has joined the long list of ISPs and trade groups suing the U.S. Federal Communications Commission over its net neutrality rules. CenturyLink filed its lawsuit Friday, becoming the seventh organization to challenge the rules approved by the FCC in late February. The FCC officially published the rules in the Federal Register, the official publication for U.S. agency rules, earlier this week, prompting a round of lawsuits. The company objected to the FCC’s reclassification of broadband from a lightly regulated information service to a more heavily regulated common-carrier service. CenturyLink spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year…
FirstNet – Louisiana.gov via Google Alerts Apr 18 03:25 Why FirstNet. Building a dedicated public safety network across the Nation. Emergency Medical Services · Fire · Law Enforcement · Public Safety …
FCC clears new spectrum for mobile broadband – RCR Wireless News via Google Alerts Apr 17 23:02 The FCC decision could be especially important to T-Mobile US and Sprint, which have less low-band spectrum than Verizon Wireless and AT&T have …
APCO Requests Comment on Dispatcher Minimum Training Requirements – MissionCritical Communications, Radio Resource International, and Public Safety Report … via Google Alerts Apr 17 21:40 The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International is seeking comments on a candidate American National Standard …