FirstNet’s First Hurricane. Last week’s Public Safety Advocate discussed storms, wildfires, and other reasons it is so important for as many public safety agencies as possible to be a part of the FirstNet network and ecosystem. This week, weather hit the Carolinas hard with the arrival of hurricane Florence and FirstNet (Built by AT&T) sprang into action. So far, reports coming out of the area via reporters, tweets, and other social media indicate that FirstNet moved in and met the challenges it faced.
According to the FCC storm reports and verified elsewhere, 14 percent of the existing cell sites were out of service while more than 164,000 customers were out of cable, broadband services, and phones. Putting this another way, according to Tower Daily News and as reported by WWAY-TV, 86.4 percent of the cell towers remained in operation serving the public and the public safety community. As of last Sunday, the number of cell sites still down was reduced to 787, as compared to the 1,063 sites that were out of service a few days earlier.
In South Carolina, 98.3 percent of the 4,107 cell sites were operational going into last weekend, and by Sunday the number of sites down in the state had been reduced to 68 or 1.7 percent. On other communications services, the FCC’s latest report shows that 47 TV stations were on the air with only four being down, and 100 FM stations were broadcasting with only 20 off the air. On the AM side of things, 28 AM stations were broadcasting, leaving only three off the air. It is important to realize information about the number of cell sites and other communications facilities are generally furnished by the site owners, station owners, or others with knowledge of the current situation rather than numbers that are generated by the FCC directly.Read the Entire Post Here
Here are the articles I have selected with the help of Discovery Patterns artificial intelligence
NTIA’s Redl Says Spectrum Sharing Is The Future Of 5G
Law360 Sep 19 21:25
Law360 (September 19, 2018, 7:29 PM EDT) — For National Telecommunications and Information Administration head David Redl, the government’s …
FCC plans to ease access to rights-of-way for 5G wireless deployments
Cabling Installation & Maintenance Sep 19 20:25
The FCC plans to take major action to speed the deployment of small wireless broadband facilities to support 5G technologies at its next meeting, …
FCC’s Rosenworcel Sees Ways To Bridge The Internet Gap
Law360 Sep 19 16:40
… speeding up the availability of in-home broadband for low-income households along with the next generation of mobile services, also known as 5G.
Progress in Mexico means 800 MHz rebanding close to being done, FCC official tells NPSTC board
Urgent Communications Sep 19 05:20
We’re close, Michael Wilhelm, chief of the policy and licensing division of the FCC’s public-safety and homeland-security bureau, said during the …
The Fast-Paced Communication Needs Of The Rail Industry Require An Integrated Approach To …
RealWire Sep 18 13:15
Whilst traditional narrowband services offer a secure network solution for voice and data, the capacity of the data is limited and the integration to high …
Tribe Pursues Cell Tower To Improve Public Safety In Northern Wisconsin
Wisconsin Public Radio News Sep 17 11:50
It has been awarded around $6.5 billion to build the nationwide public safety broadband network, according to Jeffrey King, FirstNet’s senior director of …
Shared spectrum: What’s next and why it matters for businesses
ZDNet Sep 17 06:45
The FCC is making progress on opening up the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, which can give enterprises more secure, reliable service.
Carr Announces Next 5G Order in Indiana Statehouse Speech
National Black Chamber of Commerce Sep 15 08:25
FCC Proposal to Remove Barriers to Wireless Broadband Buildout. Modern commerce has embraced wireless connectivity as the norm for buying, …
AT&T FirstNet Prepares for Hurricane Florence with Network Recovery Equipment
EMSWorld Sep 14 20:20
AT&T FirstNet is working to prepare and protect networks as Hurricane Florence starts to make landfall on the Carolinas. When it comes to storms and …
Daviess sheriff’s department signs on to FirstNet service
messenger-inquirer Sep 14 18:50
According to its website, FirstNet is a “national public safety network” that will provide “a reliable, secure broadband network decided to public safety.” …
Updated: New Apple iPhones support operation on Band 14 spectrum licensed to FirstNet
Urgent Communications Sep 14 16:20
… 14the spectrum licensed to FirstNet, which has contracted AT&T to build and maintain the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN).
First responders get their own network, no throttling with FirstNet
Silicon Angle Sep 14 15:04
Congested networks are more than an inconvenience for ordinary mobile-phone users. They can cost lives in natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other situations that call for rapid coordination among emergency first respondents. A public-private initiative between AT&T Inc. and America’s public safety agencies aims to nix networking from the list of things to worry about […] The post First responders get their own network, no throttling with FirstNet appeared first on SiliconANGLE .
FCC Data Exaggerates Broadband Access On Tribal Lands
Slashdot Sep 14 09:15
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Broadband access in tribal areas is likely even worse than previously thought because Federal Communications Commission data overstates deployment, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). FCC data collection was already known to be suspect throughout the U.S., not just in tribal areas, which in turn makes it difficult for the FCC to target deployment funding to the areas that need…
Despite Data Caps and Throttling, Industry Says Mobile Can Replace Home Internet
Slashdot Sep 19 17:45
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: AT&T and Verizon are trying to convince the Federal Communications Commission that mobile broadband is good enough for Internet users who don’t have access to fiber or cable services. The carriers made this claim despite the data usage and speed limitations of mobile services. In the mobile market, even “unlimited” plans can be throttled to unusable speeds after a customer uses just 25GB or so a…
Congress Fails To Include A Single Consumer Advocate In Upcoming Privacy Hearing
Techdirt Corporate Intelligence Sep 19 15:02
As the U.S. ponders what meaningful privacy protections should look like in the Comcast & Cambridge Analytica era, it should probably go without saying that consumers should be part of that conversation. Unsurprisingly, that hasn’t really been the case so far. That was exemplified, in part, by the GOP’s decision to neuter FCC broadband privacy rules much the same way they dismantled net neutrality: by ignoring any consumer-oriented input that didn’t gel with their pre-existing…
Hybrid IoT communications could be the best option
Network World Fusion Sep 19 13:00
Using a sole communications technology doesn’t make sense in many Internet of Things (IoT) implementations, says connectivity vendor Sigfox . In fact, the company, which provides Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks, says one could use a hybrid that includes an unlicensed LPWA network along with a licensed, cellular LTE narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) or LTE Cat M1 network solution instead. That way you can support cheap, unlicensed IoT short messaging close up, as is offered by Sigfox and others, and t
Nextivity Introduces Smart Signal Booster
Commercial Property Executive Sep 19 09:00
AT&T teamed up with the First Responder Network Authority to build FirstNet, a dedicated, high-speed LTE wireless network for public safety.
Verizon Using Samsung Tech for 5G In-Home Broadband Launch
ECNmag.com Sep 17 15:25
Verizon’s 5G in-home broadband service will go live in four cities starting Oct. 1, with support from Samsung Electronics’ FCC-certified 5G tech.
Samsung showcases latest technology for Indian smartphone market
Daijiworld.com Sep 15 17:10
It also includes Internet of Things (IoT) solutions from the efficient and reliable Exynos i S111 for narrowband applications to ARTIK end-to-end …
Who’s Doing What in the CBRS Band?
Light Reading Sep 14 16:20
Among other filings entering the FCC docket this week, the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council acknowledged there’s been a …
FCC gave this company $281 million to expand high-speed internet to rural areas
Star-Telegram Sep 14 15:01
A Parker County company will bring high tech jobs and high speed broadband internet to rural areas in six states. Nextlink, based in Hudson Oaks, announced this week that the … Click to Continue »
borna.life Sep 14 00:30
Learn about your mobile broadband performance in one click. The latest version 1. Android internet speed test without speedtest app and flash plugin.
Vodafone to double its NB IoT European footprint by 2019
Total Telecom Sep 13 14:25
Vodafone’s European network will be the biggest Narrowband Internet of Things network in the world when the network expansion project completes.