The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International is raising concerns with a petition for reconsideration filed by the Telecommunications Industry Association concerning the Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (CAP). An ex parte filing today in PS docket 13-87 reporting on an April 5 meeting at the FCC said “APCO addressed the Petition for Reconsideration filed by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) requesting that the Commission not require Project 25 Compliance Assessment Program (CAP) certification for devices ahead of submission to the FCC for type acceptance. APCO believes that CAP approval should be required prior to type acceptance as an important step toward ensuring interoperability for land mobile radios.
“APCO noted that the CAP Advisory Panel (formerly the CAP Governing Board) has matured significantly since TIA originally filed its Petition,” the filing added. “The CAP Advisory Panel, with support from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and APCO, has established regular meetings and various conference calls, and has restructured its governance to raise the effectiveness of user input on the CAP’s features and functionality requirements. Importantly, the CAP certification process has been streamlined, resulting in more timely approval for equipment that has passed CAP testing.”
APCO said that while it “prefers that the Commission require that equipment manufacturers obtain CAP certification prior to type acceptance, if the Commission permits devices to go through type acceptance prior to CAP certification, manufacturers should be prohibited from engaging in marketing activities, not just delivering equipment, until after CAP approval. This is critical for ensuring that the CAP program is able to fulfill its purpose of providing emergency response agencies with evidence that the communications equipment they purchase meets P25 standards for performance, conformance, and interoperability.”
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council also opposes the TIA petition (TRDaily, Feb. 24, 2015).
A draft order on reconsideration that was circulated to FCC Commissioners in February would grant the TIA petition, an agency source has told TRDaily (TRDaily, Feb. 26). – Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterkluwer.com
Courtesy TRDaily