Comments are due May 7 and replies June 21 in PS docket 18-64 on a notice of inquiry adopted by the FCC yesterday looking at ways to ensure that 911 calls placed from mobile phones reach the correct public safety answering point (PSAP) (TR Daily, March 22).
Courtesy TRDaily
The FCC, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security’s National Coordinating Center for Communications and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has deactivated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for areas impacted by Hurricane Maria. DIRS was activated for Maria in September 2017, and it remained active for an unprecedented 183 days. “The FCC will instead commence periodic individual conference calls with relevant communications providers to discuss the status of their restoration efforts as well as lessons learned to prepare for the coming hurricane season,” the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said in a public notice released today.
“Also, effective today, Network Outage Reporting System reporting obligations under Part 4 of the Commission’s rules, which were suspended for providers reporting in DIRS while DIRS was activated, are now again in effect for new network outages for the area covered by DIRS reporting for Hurricane Maria.”
Courtesy TRDaily
Republican FCC Commissioners today emphasized the potential benefit of repurposing the 4.9 gigahertz band for commercial purposes, or at least opening it up to additional usage, citing the fact that the spectrum has not been heavily used since the Commission made it available for public safety agencies in 2002.
Their comments came as Commissioners unanimously adopted a sixth further notice of proposed rulemaking in WP docket 07-100 seeking views on ways to promote more intensive use of the 4940-4990 megahertz band.
In 2012, FCC Commissioners, saying they were disappointed that the public safety community hadn’t used the 4.9 GHz band more intensively, adopted a fifth FNPRM seeking views on proposals to spur higher utilization of the spectrum, including by opening the band up to wireless carriers on a secondary basis and critical infrastructure industry (CII) entities such as utilities on a primary basis (TR Daily, June 13, 2012).
The agency received a number of filings in response to that item, including a national plan submitted by the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (TR Daily, Oct. 24, 2013), a white paper filed by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (TR Daily, Sept. 28, 2015), and other input. Continue reading
Public Safety Advocate: T-Band, IWCE, FirstNet
T-Band Call to Action: The T-Band (470-512 MHz) is spectrum used by both the public safety community and business users in 11 metro areas of the United States. When the bill creating FirstNet was passed in 2012, Congress required public safety to “give back” some spectrum in exchange for the 10 MHz of spectrum then known as the D-block adjacent to the 700-MHz spectrum that had been reallocated from wideband (50-KHz) channels. This was to enable public safety to deploy its own nationwide public safety broadband network. Congress decided the T-band would be a perfect giveback since it would be auctioned, once returned, for millions of dollars. Since the bill was passed, the major cities and surrounding areas that make use of this spectrum have been unable to find either the spectrum or the funding to relocate, in a timely fashion, their many radio networks that call this spectrum home. See the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) T-Band report…
IWCE 2018: For the first time in a very long time, IWCE was not held in Las Vegas, but Orlando, which is also a great convention city. However, when you weigh in spring break visitors and flights in and out of the area it can be tricky to plan what you want, and even the TSA pre-check lanes were experiencing long delays processing travelers. Even so, the conference itself was top notch. Perhaps it was because this was the first full IWCE after FirstNet the Authority awarded the contract to AT&T. The mood was upbeat, the sessions I attended and those I was part of all had good crowds, and this year it seems many more people were asking questions after the panels and/or offering up their advice. I always enjoy it when those in the audience ask questions so we can learn about their concerns…
FirstNet: FirstNet was an even more integral part of IWCE this year. There were keynotes, sessions, and more directly related to FirstNet. It was announced at IWCE that FirstNet, the Authority, had given a task order to FirstNet built with AT&T to start the band 14 (FirstNet) spectrum build-out. Task orders for various aspects of the network build-out, operation, training, and more are released by FirstNet the Authority based on milestones reached by FirstNet. So far, FirstNet is running well ahead of what anyone would have guessed because AT&T included not only band 14 but all of its own LTE and upcoming 5G spectrum and deployments… Read the Entire Post Here
MissionCritical Mar 9 10:13
AT&T signed a new task order with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) for building out 700 MHz band 14 in all 56 states and territories. AT&T executives said the carrier has already begun buildout in most states, but the new task order formalizes the next step in AT&T’s year-old agreement with FirstNet to build a nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). read more
The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released an order today granting a limited waiver of its wireless emergency alert (WEA) rules to permit wireless carriers to participate in a WEA test to be conducted by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Emergency Managers’ Committee. The test is to occur between 10 and 10:30 a.m. April 5. It “would consist of separate WEA tests from twelve of the twenty jurisdictions,” the bureau noted in its order in PS docket 15-91.
The state of Oklahoma does not divert 911 funds for other purposes, according to the state’s 911 coordinator. “All funds met the FCC standards and definitions for the purpose of 9-1-1,” Lance Terry said in a letter to FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly released by Mr. O’Rielly’s office today.
Mr. Terry’s letter responded to a letter that Mr. O’Rielly sent four states and three territories last month asking them to explain why they did not respond to the FCC’s most recent effort to gather data about 911 deployment, including diversions of 911 fees and surcharges (TR Daily, Feb. 20).
Six states diverted 911 funds for other purposes in 2016, according to an annual report released by the FCC earlier last month (TR Daily, Feb. 7). Continue reading
The FCC has gotten two views on a waiver request that would allow a company to deploy a device that can measure lung fluid measurements for congestive heart failure patents in a non-invasive way. The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology solicited comment last month on the waiver request filed by Sensible Medical Innovations Ltd. (TR Daily, Feb. 9). The waiver would “allow the marketing and operation of its stepped frequency ultra-wideband (UWB) medical imaging and diagnostic equipment known as the ReDs System.” A public notice observed that “Sensible states that the ReDs System can provide accurate lung fluid measurements for congestive heart failure patients in a non-invasive way. The device operates over the frequency range of 1005-1709 MHz.”
In a comment filed in ET docket 18-39, the GPS Innovation Alliance said that it “appreciates and supports advances in medical technologies and the promise that SMI’s ReDS device might bring to treat congestive heart failure. The record currently before the Commission, however, fails to address questions, including how ReDS operations will impact critical GPS services. Those questions should be answered before SMI tis allowed to proceed. The GPSIA therefore respectfully requests that the Commission defer any action on the requested Waiver until SMI provides complete technical and operational information regarding its product, including the information discussed herein, and it otherwise ensures that GPS operations are adequately protected.”
But the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council said it “supports grant of the waivers requested by Sensible Medical Innovations. In offering this support, NPSTC is guided primarily by its view that a non-invasive medical system to measure lung fluid in congestive heart failure patients provides positive benefits to patients, and potentially to emergency medical service (EMS) personnel that may need to serve these patients.”
NPSTC added that “multiple technical factors including the specific frequency range used, a low duty cycle and reliance on spread spectrum technology would contribute to a low risk of interference to public safety communications. Should interference occur despite the apparent relatively low risk, NPSTC believes that Sensible Medical Innovations, Ltd. would need to take steps expeditiously to resolve the problem. Accordingly, NPSTC recommends the Commission determine whether a non-interference condition is needed if the requested waivers are granted.”- Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com
Courtesy TRDaily
The Policy and Licensing Division of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released an order in WT docket 02-55 today denying a request by License Acquisitions, Inc., to rescind the election by the predecessor licensee to relocate to the enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR) portion of the 800 megahertz band as part of the realignment of the spectrum. The division said it treated the request like a waiver and said the company had not met the burden to be granted a waiver.
The FCC should provide further guidance of what constitutes 911 fee diversion by states, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International and CTIA said in comments filed in response to a report that concluded that six states in 2016 diverted 911 fees for other purposes (TR Daily, Feb. 7).
The report by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said that the total amount diverted by reporting jurisdictions was $128.9 million, or about 5% of the total collected in 911/enhanced 911 fees. The report, the ninth annual document to Congress on fee diversions, said that the following states diverted 911 fees for other purposes: New Jersey, West Virginia, Illinois, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and New York. New York was the only one of the six diverting states that did not submit a report to the FCC for the report. But the Commission said that “sufficient public record information exists to support a finding that New York diverted funds for non-public safety uses.”
In its comments in PS docket 09-14, APCO urged the FCC to define NG-911 for its information collection and provide more guidance on diversions. Continue reading
ORLANDO – Kevin McGinnis, who represents the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) on the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) board, and Chris Sambar, senior vice president-FirstNet for AT&T, Inc., today defended the plan for building and running the nationwide public safety broadband network overseen by the First Responder Network Authority.
During a NPSTC meeting held in conjunction with the IWCE show here, Mr. McGinnis, who is also a member of the FirstNet board but stressed that he was not speaking for the FirstNet board or the NASEMSO board, defended the plan to deploy one nationwide network.
“What we won is what public safety asked for initially, which is one network,” he said. “We need to dedicate ourselves to moving that forward. … I think we’re doing well.” He did not mention by name Verizon Communications, Inc., which is offering a competing public safety offering, by name.
At NPSTC’s January meeting, Mr. McGinnis criticized Verizon, suggesting that the carrier’s public safety broadband offering service pales in comparison to the FirstNet plan being offered by AT&T and complaining about statements attributed to Verizon (TR Daily, Jan. 9).
Mr. Sambar, who also did not mention Verizon by name, said that in the past couple of days, “one of those other commercial carriers” has continued “to take shots at the FirstNet network.”
“They’re all calling it a monopoly now,” he added. “This is not AT&T’s network. … It’s public safety’s network.” He added, “We’re building what you’re asking us to build.”
He noted that FirstNet must certify everything deployed by AT&T.
He added that in areas with no coverage or weak coverage, AT&T will build thousands of new cell sites, some later this year but most next year. AT&T this week also said it plans to touch more than one-third of its existing cell sites this year to add Band 14, which it plans to deploy to 95% of the U.S. population over the next five years.
Mr. Sambar also emphasized that AT&T’s public safety core is “a dedicated, physically separate network for public safety,” adding that a “virtually separated” core, a reference to Verizon’s core, is different than “physically separate” one. Verizon has defended its core, which, like AT&T’s, is scheduled for completion by the end of this month.
Mr. Sambar also said that it’s taking more time than some public safety agencies would like to sign them up for service as AT&T checks their credentials and priority level.
Mr. Sambar was asked about the timing of deploying z-axis indoor location accuracy. He said he has met with five or six vendors but said “there’s major challenges with just about all of” the technologies, including their ability to be effective when the power in a building goes out.
He said AT&T likes the NextNav LLC solution, although it needs to be tested in a building that is on fire because it uses pressure in devices, and pressure changes in buildings on fire.
Also during today’s NPSTC meeting, Paul Patrick, the interim chair of FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC), said PSAC’s early builder working group would be disbanded when its current task expires at the end of this month.
Also, David Furth, deputy chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, noted that the FCC plans to consider at its March 22 meeting a sixth further notice of proposed rulemaking in its 4.9 gigahertz band proceeding (TR Daily, March 1). He noted that a number of the proposals in the item came from NPSTC. He said that “perhaps towards the end of the year” the FCC will be “at the point where we can adopt final rules.”
Mr. Furth also noted that the FCC last month released a 700 megahertz band second report and order (TR Daily, Feb. 12), and he said that by NPSTC’s next meeting, there will hopefully be progress with the 800 MHz band interstitial channel item as well as further rebanding progress in the Mexico border region. NPSTC’s next meeting is scheduled for May 15 via teleconference. —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com
Courtesy TRDaily