I read with interest the current version of FirstNet’s Tech Talk: Updated Vehicular Network System Vison which can be found here: http://firstnet.gov/newsroom/blog/tech-talk-updated-vehicular-network-system-vision it is a good vision and one that we were working on in 2013 for FirstNet but will some nice refinements to it. The satellite portion of the Vehicle Network System or VNS as they call it, makes sense for service in rural areas but I noticed that very important part of the satellite usage that was included in our version of this is missing from the FirstNet VNS. There is at least one company that is already building this VNS in several configurations and has some in service in rural tribal areas and with other types of customers and the results have been very gratifying.
After my comments about the emails I receive and try and answer each week I received a number of very positive emails from readers. One that I will share with you was from a subscriber who is very well versed in Push-to-Talk and all things Public Safety. He wrote: Great quote about the folks that think mission critical voice on FirstNet is here and he included a link to this quote by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). I enjoyed the quote so thought that I would include it for all of you: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
The due date for the FirstNet RFP for choosing a partner to work with is May 31, 2016. It does not appear to me that there will be yet another extension to this due date and I am sure that all of those companies and partnerships which plan to submit a response are working very hard to make sure that they get the best proposal completed in time that they can. One of the things that I am most concerned about is the fact that anyone of the bidders could file a law suit after the award is made on a number of different grounds. In the LMR world and even in the LMR/LTE world this type of tactic has happened all too often. It stalled the LA-RICS system for over a year, it disrupted the Federal Government’s failed attempt to roll out a nationwide LMR network to be shared by multiple federal agencies (iWIN), and it has disrupted city and county procurements small and large. Sometimes these lawsuits are justified but normally they are simply sour grapes by the one of the losing bidders who does not take losing well. I sincerely hope that FirstNet and the public safety community will be spared the year or more delay in getting the construction of this network started because of a lawsuit.
Everyone involved has worked way too hard on this for way too many years to have to live though yet another delay in moving forward with this project. As I talk to many within the Public Safety community who were avidly following FirstNet’s progress I am finding that many of them have shelved their interest in the project based on the fact that it is moving so slowly. Many of those who were so hopeful for the creation of FirstNet will have retired by the time the network is ready for prime time and the generation who will take their places are much more skeptical of what FirstNet will actually be able to provide. The best outcome will be a clean bidding process with a clean set of responses making the decision about who to award the contract to a tough call for FirstNet and the many feds who will also be inserting their two cents into the process. The winner should be the company or group of companies that will be building the network not just to make money on the secondary spectrum use but to serve the public safety community as well. While FirstNet may be conducting the RFP and determining the winner, the most important part of this network are the customers, the public safety agencies that decide to get on board and make use of the network. If it is not built with them in mind then the very famous miss-quote from a very famous movie will, unfortunately, become the quote of the day: “If we build it they won’t come”. We cannot let this happen!” Andrew M Seybold
Here’s the aspect of FirstNet’s independence that should matter most to public-safety agencies … – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Apr 19 15:15 … debate that the organization would be distracted from its most important task at hand: building a self-sustaining broadband network for public safety.
First Responder Network Authority Weekly Update to the Public Safety Advisory Committee – National Public Safety Telecommunications Council – npstc via Google Alerts Apr 19 15:01 In January 2016, FirstNet released is Request for Proposals (RFP) for the deployment of the nationwide public safety broadband network and bids will …
Google to test innovative 3.5GHz wireless in Kansas City – InfoWorld Apr 19 09:01 Google won approval last week to begin testing innovative 3.5 GHz wireless capabilities by using antennas on light poles and other structures in eight areas of Kansas City, Mo. It will be the first large-scale test of its kind in the nation, following a framework created by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a year ago for the new Citizens Broadband Radio Service, which uses 3.5GHz spectrum and allows for dynamic spectrum sharing. [ Read ’em and weep: 5 ways your ISP is screwing you | Cut to the key news in technology trends and IT breakthroughs with the InfoWorld Daily newsletter , our…
Santa Barbara Fire Chief Pushes for 9-1-1 Routing Changes for Cellphone Calls – Noozhawk via Google Alerts Apr 18 12:30 … the bill from the California Fire Chiefs Association and a number of public-safety agencies. According to the Federal Communications Commission, …
National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week – The Glen Rose Reporter via Google Alerts Apr 15 05:15 The event, sponsored by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) is held to honor the men and women who are often …
Broadband Rate-Blocking Bill on Senate Calendar – Multichannel News via Google Alerts Apr 22 10:15 Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act, sponsored by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), which would prevent the FCC from regulating the monthly …
Analysis of the FCC’s Proposed Broadband Privacy Regulations – JD Supra via Google Alerts Apr 22 01:20 The FCC’s proposed rules would require broadband providers to give clear and …
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Steps into Internet of Things … – The National Law Review via Google Alerts Apr 21 16:50 Continuing its tradition of active involvement in digital economy questions, the Department of Commerce’s (DOC) National Telecommunications and …
Hacker taps congressman’s cellphone, investigation called for – SC Magazine via Google Alerts Apr 21 12:15 This incident also spurred the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into action withDavid Simpson, head of the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau, …
FCC to take look at mobile network’s security – The Hill via Google Alerts Apr 20 19:16 Admiral David Simpson, the chief of the FCC’s public safety bureau, said that the agency’s Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability …
FCC – Chairman Wheeler’s Response to Members of Congress Regarding Mobile Broadband … – Colorado Media.Net via Google Alerts Apr 20 07:15 From the FCC: Chairman Wheeler’s Response to Members of Congress Regarding Mobile Broadband Coverage …
Special Access; SCADA Enforcement; PSAP Task Force; FirstNet Board and RFP Extension; FCC … – The National Law Review via Google Alerts Apr 19 12:00 FirstNet announced a deadline extension for proposals for the deployment of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network by two and a half …
RELM Wireless Receives $1.1 Million Order for State of California – PR Newswire via Google Alerts Apr 19 09:00 … compliant equipment regardless of the manufacturer, was established by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials and is approved …
House Moves to Bar FCC From Regulating Internet Rates – Bloomberg BNA via Google Alerts Apr 18 22:50 The No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act (H.R. 2666) is the House Republicans’ reaction to the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality rules.
FCC Getting Its Arms Around Telehealth, Commish Says – LexisNexis via Google Alerts Apr 18 20:55 Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said Monday that the agency is taking a close look at broadband-enabled health care …
Remarks of FCC Commissioner Clyburn at 2016 California Telehealth Network Annual Summit – Benton Foundation via Google Alerts Apr 18 18:55 While broadband is completely changing when, how, and where medical care takes place, a persistent digital divide too often means that millions lack …
NTIA raises privacy issues on set-top box plan – Politico via Google Alerts Apr 18 12:20 While it’s great that the NTIA called out the FCC’s proposed workaround as toothless and unenforceable, they left out …
Sony Investigating 5G: Wait, What, Sony? – Light Reading via Google Alerts Apr 18 12:11 Sony concepts include an ultra-narrowband “Subconscious Lifelog,” a wearable that tracks user activity for a couple of weeks without needing a …
House Passes Anti-Net Neutrality Bill That Would Limit FCC’s Authority To Regulate Broadband … – Tech Times via Google Alerts Apr 16 13:20 FCC’s efforts to enforce net neutrality are at risk. The House voted for the No Rate Regulation of Broadband Internet Access Act, a bill that takes away …
House OKs Bill on High-Speed Internet Service Rates – NewsFactor Apr 16 12:00 Republicans snubbed a White House veto threat and pushed legislation through the House Friday that would bar the government from regulating rates that high-speed Internet service providers charge consumers. House approval came on a near party-line 241-173 vote. With the Senate yet to act and facing a promised veto from the Obama administration, the measure faces long odds of enactment. Federal Communications Commission has said it has no intention of regulating broadband Internet service rates….
‘No Rate Regulation’ Broadband Bill Passes House, But Faces Long Odds – Phone+ Apr 16 06:31 The Obama administration has expressed its strong opposition to H.R. 2666 because it said the legislation would “undermine key provisions” of the FCC’s Net neutrality regulations.