Passing the Baton. The past several weeks have seen some interesting changes in the FirstNet Board of Directors and the U.S. Senate. First and foremost, the passing of John McCain was very sad news for many. I am not sure how many within the public safety community know how involved Senator McCain was in the early days of forming FirstNet or how much he supported the public safety community. On the FirstNet Authority side, we lost (due to retirement) our great board chair person Sue Swenson, vice-chair Chief (Ret.) Johnson, and “Mr. EMS”Kevin McGinnis. This leaves a gaping hole in the board with seven vacant chairs to be filled.
In July of 2010, three U.S. Senators announced they were joining the fight mounted by the public safety community to gain access to the 700-MHz D Block. These three were John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller. Until then, support from the Senate for the public safety requests was limited. Then on July 21, 2010, Senators McCain and Lieberman introduced a bill (S.3625) to allocate the spectrum known as the D Block to public safety and provide up to $5.5 billion in funding followed by another $5.5 billion as the network was built.
As this bill was being launched, the Public Safety Spectrum Trust, headed by Chief (Ret.) Harlin McEwen, the Public Safety Alliance (PSA), and other dedicated supporters were walking the halls of Congress to drum up bipartisan support for the plan. The PSA held a rally outside the capital building on a very hot, muggy day. Officials from fire, police, EMS, and sheriffs who participated wore their dress uniforms, which are not designed for standing for hours in the hot sun. Both Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman joined us for the event wearing suits and both spoke about their bill and how it was taking too long after the 9/11 report and recommendations, how they both supported public safety, and what they were trying to accomplish. Read the Entire Post Here .
Here are the articles I have selected with the help of Discovery Patterns artificial intelligence
FirstNet Momentum: More Than 2500 Public Safety Agencies Subscribed
PR Newswire Aug 29 20:05
FirstNet is the nationwide public safety communications platform dedicated to …
FCC Gets Conflicting Advice On First Responder Data Boosts
Law360 Aug 30 01:35
… Communications Commission on considerations for a bright-line rule allowing mobile carriers to speed up public safety agencies’ communications, …
FCC ready to make a giant broadband investment in rural America
ConsumerAffairs Aug 29 16:40
FCC ready to make a giant broadband investment in rural America …
Eureka Times Standard Aug 29 02:15
When we saw how throttling those speeds can impact first responders in an emergency, all the technical arguments against the bill made by telecomm …
1000 First Responders Urge Congress to Restore Net Neutrality After Verizon Throttles California …
Common Dreams Aug 29 02:15
“We are joining with millions of businesses, veterans, and Internet users in asking Congress to use their Congressional Review Act (CRA) powers to …
To throttle or not? Readers say Verizon is entitled to make a buck
KTVB.com Aug 26 22:35
#FirstNet is more than a network. It’s a dedicated communications tool built for first responders with no throttling. Get the facts on how your network is …
Rosenworcel Criticizes FCC Hurricane Report
CableFAX Aug 24 22:30
As Hurricane Lane torments the Hawaiian Islands, the FCC’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau released its 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season …
AT&T’s service for first responders sees strong demand as effort ramps up
Dallas Business Journal Aug 23 18:40
FirstNet is available to public safety entities nationwide. …
Panasonic and Vodafone Connecting Home Devices Using Narrowband-IoT
Panasonic Newsroom Global Aug 30 05:35
Panasonic Corporation and Vodafone today announced they have agreed to collaborate on a pilot experiment aimed at realising IoT-based home …
FCC Can Define Markets With Only One ISP as ‘Competitive’, Court Rules
Slashdot Aug 29 14:30
An appeals court has upheld a Federal Communications Commission ruling that broadband markets can be competitive even when there is only one Internet provider. From a report: The FCC “rationally chose which evidence to believe among conflicting evidence,” the court ruling said. The FCC voted last year to eliminate price caps imposed on some business broadband providers such as AT&T and Verizon. The FCC decision eliminated caps in any given county if 50 percent of…
Wisper ISP leads 11 companies awarded $255 million to expand broadband in rural Missouri
MassHighTech Aug 29 10:12
The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday awarded $254.7 million to 11 companies to expand broadband internet services to rural Missouri. The amount awarded to Missouri was more than any other state in the federal Connect America Fund Phase II auction to expand rural broadband. The second highest amount ” $149 million ” went to California. The winning bidders for Missouri are: Air Link Rural Broadband LLC – $11,371,438.40 ArisWave Consortium – $3,001,544.70 Barry Electric Cooperative…
Unwired: New FCC regulations for wireless microphones impacting local organizations
telegraphherald.com Aug 28 22:05
A similar auction took place in 2008, where 700 MHz was acquired for public safety devices. At that time, the FCC said it didn’t anticipate future …
Verizon, others win FCC auction to bring broadband to 1.7 million rural Americans
USA TODAY Aug 28 20:10
More than half (53 percent) of homes and businesses that will be covered through the auction will get download speeds of at least 100 megabits per …
FCC Deactivates DIRS for Tropical Depression Lane
Federal Communications Commission Aug 27 15:25
FCC Deactivates DIRS for Tropical Depression Lane. Full Title: The FCC’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau Announces Deactivation Of The …
Charter Spectrum Security Flaw Exposes Private Data Of Millions Of Subscribers
Techdirt Corporate Intelligence Aug 27 15:02
Last year you’ll recall that the cable and broadband industry lobbied the government to kill off broadband privacy rules at the FCC . The rules were fairly basic, requiring that ISPs and cable operators clearly disclose what data is being collected and sold, but also provide working opt out tools for users who didn’t want to participate. The rules also contained restrictions requiring that consumers opt in to more sensitive data collection (financial), as well…
California Lawmakers Demand an Investigation Into Verizon’s Slowdown of Firefighters’ Data
Mother Jones Aug 24 21:10
The FCC has abdicated its jurisdiction over broadband communications and walked away from protecting consumers, including public safety agencies, the representatives wrote. They asked the FTC to determine if the data …
Attachment, Regional Narrowband PCS Spectrum Auction; Status of FCC Form 175 Applications to …
Federal Communications Commission Aug 24 03:10
Attachment, Regional Narrowband PCS Spectrum Auction; Status of FCC Form 175 Applications to Participate in the Auction. Full Title: Regional …
Pasadena-Based Coalition Joins Lawsuit to Restore Net Neutrality
Pasadena Now Aug 23 19:30
The petitioners said the FCC decision will cause (inevitable harms) to consumers, public safety, and existing regulatory schemes and that the …
Samsung’s Exynos i S111 Delivers Efficiency and Reliability for NB-IoT Devices
Samsung Newsroom Aug 23 04:40
Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced its new narrowband (NB) Internet of Things (IoT) …