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Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, December 14, 2017

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News and Commentary
 It has been an interesting few weeks. As of now, FirstNet/AT&T has 36 of the 56 states and territories opted in, New Hampshire has opted out, and the deadline for opting out is fourteen days away. I say for opting out since if a state opts in by December 28, that is great for FirstNet, but if states don’t make any decision they will have opted in by default. It will be interesting to see how all this shakes out over the holidays. Also, this week, Verizon, once again, has decided not to bid on a FirstNet system. In this case, it is California. Verizon stated it will not submit a proposal to the state of California because FirstNet and AT&T have the system rigged. That is the second time instead of bidding on the project Verizon has made an excuse not to bid. It now appears as though Verizon’s only desire is to keep its existing public safety customers and perhaps convince a few more to join them.

I don’t understand Verizon’s recent moves. It did not show up to bid on the RFP, after the award to AT&T it said it had looked at it but did not need the spectrum for secondary use, but that it has always supported the public safety community, which is true, at least for the past ten years. After the RFP award, during last year’s APCO conference, Verizon announced it would build a duplicate network including a core and provide Band 14 services to its public safety customers. There are two issues with that, the first being that FirstNet holds the license for Band 14 so Verizon cannot simply put its customers on Band 14. If it is really to offer Band 14, a second SIM would be required in the device and another contract would have to be in place with AT&T. The other issue is that the way the law reads there will be only one public safety core (redundant of course) and therefore every public safety user on Band 14 must be connected to that core, and it is mandated that the one core will be built, managed, and operated by AT&T. For the past few months Verizon has been quiet and now it claims it won’t bid the California RFP because FirstNet and AT&T are not playing fair. Based on what I have seen, I am not convinced upper-level management at Verizon is 100 percent onboard with these efforts.

It will also be interesting to watch New Hampshire. It appears as though the first order of business for the state is to negotiate a full contract with Rivada. I certainly hope New Hampshire protects itself against the possibility that when the losses start to pile up for the vendor, the state is not stuck with the bill. The state and Rivada now have 180 days to provide a plan to the FCC to ensure that the Radio Access Network (RAN) build-out in the state will be fully compatible with FirstNet and that it will be upgraded as FirstNet/AT&T upgrades its network. It would have been fascinating if the state had opted out earlier because then we would have a parallel course between FirstNet and the state to see how both systems are developed and built out. As it stands now, New Hampshire will be somewhat behind the curve in implementing its network simply due to the federal agencies that need to approve the RAN (FCC), award a grant (NTIA), and enter into a spectrum lease for Band 14 (FirstNet). Read the Entire Blog Here 

FirstNet gives Texas emergency workers ‘ruthless preemption’ on cellphone networks – San Antonio Express-News
Dec 13 14:00 Ruthless preemption basically processes their messages and data before all others under the First Responder Network Authority plan, or FirstNet, a national public safety broadband network run by AT&T. Preemption shifts non-emergency traffic to another line when the line becomes crowded, allowing …

AT&T launches preemption for FirstNet customers – RCR Wireless News
Dec 13 12:25 That category includes fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, emergency managers, dispatch and Public Safety Answering Points, according to AT&T. Some limited priority for public safety traffic has been offered by wireless carriers over the years, but it has typically carried extra charges …

Missouri To Opt Into FirstNet – Wireless Week
Dec 12 14:25 Officials from FirstNet said that their discussions with Missouri included expanding wireless coverage particularly in rural areas and allocating network assets that could be deployed as needed to support public safety. First responders in the state received immediate access to AT&T’s existing LTE …

Sununu decision on emergency responder network due today – The Union Leader
Dec  7 06:10 In New Hampshire’s case, that would mean creating a New Hampshire network with Rivada, one of the unsuccessful bidders that pursued the FirstNet contract to build the network, which went to AT&T. The state already has a tentative contract with Rivada, depending on Sununu’s final decision, which is …

LA-RICS reaches agreement with AT&T on transfer of region’s public-safety LTE network for FirstNet – Urgent Communications
Dec 14 00:25 Incorporation of the LA-RICS LTE systemthe largest early builder public-safety LTE network in the countryinto FirstNet has been a priority for LA-RICS officials. In addition, Edson repeatedly has noted that LA-RICS built its cell sites to the public-safety-grade standard established by the National …

FirstNet will better assist first responders with communication during emergencies – NTV
Dec 13 18:40 Communication between first responders in disasters and emergencies are critical when lives are in danger. National FirstNet Broadband Project was created to help enhance public safety communications and to keep first responders connected in emergency situations. “After the 9/11 attacks on our …

FirstNet launches preemption as Verizon bows out of California RFP – FierceWireless
Dec 13 17:00 AT&T and FirstNet launched ruthless preemption, giving first responders top priority to its network even during times of extreme congestion. …

First state opts out as AT&T’s FirstNet proposals reach crucial final weeks – xmlpush
Dec 13 15:45 With just a little more than two weeks remaining before the deadline, 36 states and territories have opted into the nationwide network for first responders that will be built by AT&T (NYSE: T). But uncertainty remains for the Dallas telecom, which is contracted by the U.S. government’s FirstNet Authority for the job: 19 states and territories have yet to announce their choice, while one recently became the first to opt-out. Last week, New Hampshire…

The Downside of Net Neutrality – Scientific American
Dec 13 12:35 We particularly like that the FCC is now proposing to, Restore the determination that mobile broadband is not a ‘commercial mobile service’ subject to heavy-handed regulation. Essentially, the principles of the 2015 framework aimed to ensure equal treatment of traffic passing through networks.

FirstNet activates preemption for opt-in state users – StateScoop
Dec 13 10:55 With preemption, FirstNet users will not have to compete with normal commercial mobile traffic. Instead, first responders will have access to voice, text, apps and mobile internet service, regardless of how many users in a single place are accessing AT&T’s network. The service shifts non-emergency traffic …

Commerce Files One More Response Prior to Hearing on FirstNet FOIA Case – MissionCritical
Dec 13 10:03 Attorneys for the Department of Commerce (DOC) submitted one last response to a lawsuit surrounding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) before the case moves to a court hearing Dec. 15. read more

Results of 2017 National EAS Test Show Improvement – TV Technology
Dec 12 19:40 WASHINGTONA preliminary analysis of results from the 2017 nationwide EAS test in September show overall improvement compared to last year’s test, but the performance of TV broadcasters appears to have slipped slightly in one key area, according to a public notice from the FCC’s Public Safety …

How Much Does AT&T Stand To Gain From FirstNet? – Forbes
Dec 12 15:30 Earlier this year, AT&T won a 25-year contract from the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to build and run the first broadband network that will cater …

Federal initiative to focus on broadband access for rural cancer patients – American Hospital Association
Dec 14 08:15 The Federal Communications Commission and National Cancer Institute have signed a memorandum of unde…

FCC Boss Claims Net Neutrality Hurts Small ISPs, But The FCC’s Own Data Proves Otherwise – Techdirt Corporate Intelligence
Dec 14 08:15 By now we’ve noted countless times how the claim that net neutrality hurt broadband investment is indisputably false . It’s not a debate. Public SEC filings, earnings reports, and numerous CEO statements to investors (who, unlike you, they’re legally not allowed to lie to) have disproven this canard. Data suggesting otherwise usually originates with ISP-paid economists more than willing to twist, distort, cherry pick and massage the numbers until they comply with whatever message is…

Preemption services now available for FirstNet primary users in opt-in states – Homeland Preparedness News
Dec 14 08:15 Now, with the launch of preemption on FirstNet, for the first time, public safety is ensured a ‘fast lane’ to connect. FirstNet will provide reliability, confidence and ability for first responders to be able to communicate during emergency operations. Virginia was first in to opt in, and we’re all in to ensure …

Why Dish Network Needs To Roll Out Services For Its Spectrum Holdings – Forbes
Dec 13 14:35 In March this year, Dish Network raised $1 billion in debt to finance wireless and spectrum-related strategic transactions. In July, reports surfaced that Dish Network and Amazon could partner to set up a narrow band Internet of Things (IoT) network. While Dish has remained tight-lipped about any …

Thales to Supply Multiband Tactical Radios to Army – ExecutiveBiz
Dec 13 09:45 IMBITR is designed to support interoperability between joint and coalition forces through narrowband, wideband and satellite communications networks. The service branch ordered the radios as part of a network modernization initiative. SFABs are tasked to assist, advise and collaborate with foreign …

Summarizing the harms of the FCC’s 2015 net neutrality rules – American Enterprise Institute
Dec 13 09:15 The FCC proposes to strengthen transparency provisions so that consumers and innovators have more information about their broadband connection including network management, performance, and commercial terms. Ideally, consumers will use this information to drive greater customization of …

FirstNet launches ruthless-preemption functionality for ‘primary’ public-safety subscribers – Urgent Communications
Dec 12 17:40 After the carrier was awarded the FirstNet nationwide contract in March, AT&T officials vowed that preemptive access would available to primary public-safety FirstNet subscribers by the end of the year. While some public-safety entities have used commercial broadband services for years to support …

FirstNet documents reportedly leaked in Vermont – RCR Wireless News
Dec 12 12:40 At the time, Whitaker criticized the rejection of the FoIA request and told the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council in an email that there was a need for more transparency by FirstNet and precisely what privacy, reliability and accountability compromises we are being asked to make …

Massive IoT, the new focus of IoT standardization: 5G Americas – Telecom Lead
Dec  7 04:15 Today, Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) is already gaining attention and it is anticipated that cellular-based technologies such as LTE-M (Machine) and Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) will become the leading LPWA standards by 2020. This would allow operators to choose from several Cellular IoT (CIoT) …

Digital communications are revolutionising the railway business – ITWeb
Dec  7 02:15 Then there is LTE’s narrowband component, a low-power, highly dedicated way to add sensors and other IOT systems to the railway without deploying a new wireless network. “It costs billions to maintain all the equipment every year,” Frisch explained.” Just saving a tiny bit of that maintenance cost will …

FCC Creates Blue Alert to Aid Law Enforcement, Public

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The FCC today adopted a report and order modifying the Emergency Alert System (EAS) by creating a Blue Alert to aid law enforcement officers and the public when dangerous suspects are on the loose.  “Blue Alerts warn the public when there is actionable information related to a law enforcement officer who is missing, seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, or when there is an imminent credible threat to an officer,” the FCC said in a news release. “A Blue Alert could quickly warn you if a violent suspect may be in your community, along with providing instructions on what to do if you spot the suspect and how to stay safe.”

The Blue Alert code will give state and local agencies “the option to send these warnings to the public through broadcast, cable, satellite, and wireline video providers.  Officials may also send Blue Alerts through the Wireless Emergency Alert system to consumers’ wireless phones,” the news release added.

“Today’s action supports the development of compatible and integrated Blue Alert plans throughout the United States, a goal consistent with the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015.  The Act, which is implemented by the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), directs cooperation with the FCC,” the news release said.   The Act was named for two New York Police officers killed in the line of duty three years ago. Continue reading →

CSRIC Working Groups Brief Panel

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The Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council was briefed today by its transition path to NG-911, emergency alerting, and network reliability and security risk reduction working groups. The meeting only lasted about 33 minutes. The CSRIC plans to vote on reports from the working groups at its next meeting March 28, 2018, at 1 p.m.

FCC Grants Access to 800 MHz Band Expansion Channels

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The Policy and Licensing Division of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released an order today granting a request by Clark County, Wash., for early access to two 800 megahertz expansion band channels, which will allow the county “to expand its composite contour footprint” on the channels “by a de minimis amount in a sparsely populated area.”

FCC Reports Improved Performance with Nationwide EAS Test

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The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said that the performance during a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) in September appeared improved from a nationwide test last year. “Initial test data indicate that the majority of EAS Participants successfully received and retransmitted the National Periodic Test (NPT) code used for the test,” the bureau said in a public notice released yesterday in PS docket 15-94.

It said that “95.8% of test participants successfully received the test alert (95.4% successfully received in 2016)” and that “91.9% of test participants successfully retransmitted the test alert (85.8% successfully retransmitted in 2016).”

The bureau also said that “89.0% of test participants that filed Form Three [in November] reported no complications in receiving the test alert (81.5% reported no complications receiving the alert in 2016)” and that “88.3% of test participants that filed Form Three reported no complications in retransmitting the test alert (80.2% reported no complications retransmitting the alert in 2016).” Continue reading →

Andy Seybold’s Public Safety Advocate, December 7, 2017

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Public Safety Networks LMR and FirstNet Working Together

There is still a lot of confusion out in Public Safety and elected official land about the future of Land Mobile Radio (LMR) as FirstNet is deployed, and there is still the issue of the eleven major metro areas slated to lose the T-Band and their LMR systems if we cannot convince Congress to make some changes to the law. I was happy to see that during the recent webinar held by Mission Critical Magazine, Chester County, PA speakers were questioned as to whether LMR will be replaced by FirstNet, they responded with a resounding NO! (Chester County was the first countywide fire dispatch system I designed and installed in the early 1970s.) However, it seems there is still an issue of spreading the word, not so much to the public safety community but to IT departments and elected and appointed officials responsible for the budgets, both capex and opex, that fund LMR systems.

It is no wonder some people are confused since we keep seeing comments, press releases, and experts talking about how soon Mission Critical Push-To-Talk (MCPTT) is coming to FirstNet, and how some still believe the off-network 3GPP standard known as ProSe will be a factor. However, even the developers of the public safety system in the United Kingdom have realized they won’t be able to provide reliable off-network PTT over LTE. For that reason, they are planning to use Tetra radios with simplex or talk-around. The more the experts talk about the technology issues with Mission Critical PTT, the more they seem to be losing sight of the fact that the technology over the network is only part of the issue. If the network itself is not mission-critical, PTT over the network cannot be mission-critical, even if it is called “Mission Critical PTT” (MCPPT).

It is, I believe, vitally important that those in government who make decisions about funding LMR radio systems, upgrading them, keeping them running and operational understand the dilemma the standards body, labs, and pro-MCPTT folks have created for the public safety community. There have been instances where public safety officials are presenting their next year’s budget and they are questioned by the budget committee about why public safety still needs to invest in LMR technology. The public safety officials usually make a good case for why, but one or more of the budget committee members have heard from technology experts that MCPTT will be real and will be rolled out in 2018. They simply do not understand that every day public safety bets their lives on their communications systems. Read the Entire Blog Here Continue reading →

FCC Seeks Comment on Hurricane Response

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On December 7, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued a Public Notice inviting comment on the government and communications industry’s preparation and response to the 2017 hurricane season.

“The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeks comment on the resiliency of the communications infrastructure, the effectiveness of emergency communications, and government and industry responses to the 2017 hurricane season. Of particular note, the 2017 season included four hurricanes which made landfall in the United States and its territories.[1]  Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate led to Presidential emergency or major disaster declarations for seven states and two territories.[2]  These storms devastated communities and the communications networks that service them.  As emphasized by Chairman Pai, “Access to reliable communications services during times of emergency is critical to enabling Americans in danger to request help and our heroic first responders to do their jobs.”[3]  The purpose of this Public Notice is to seek information to better understand how well such access was provided during these hurricanes in order to assess what lessons may be learned for the future.”

In addition, Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes issued a blog on our ongoing hurricane response and recovery efforts:  https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/blog/2017/12/07/hurricane-seasons-over-our-work-continues

[1] These hurricanes were Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate. See, e.g., Jonathan Erdman, 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Among Top 10 Most Active in History (Oct. 2, 2017), https://weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/2017-atlantic-hurricane-season-one-of-busiest-september#/!.

[2] The states and territories for which emergency or disaster declarations were made were Texas, Florida, Louisiana Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. See, e.g., FEMA, Disasters, https://www.fema.gov/disasters/.

[3] See Chairman Ajit Pai, September 2017 Open FCC Meeting, Presentation on FCC Response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, Statement (Sept. 26, 2017), https://www.fcc.gov/document/presentation-fcc-response-hurricanes-harvey-irma-and-maria/pai-statement-0.

FCC Grants 700 MHz Band Construction Deadline

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The Policy and Licensing Division of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released an order on reconsideration in file no. 0007811683 today addressing a request by the city of Long Beach, Calif., “to extend the construction deadline for 700 MHz trunked public safety station, call sign WQNH254. Specifically, Long Beach requests an extension until June 2020 to construct the station.

While the City’s extension request was being reviewed by Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (Bureau or PSHSB) staff, call sign WQNH254 entered into Termination Pending Status for failure to meet a build-out requirement. For the reasons stated below, we grant the extension request until June 17, 2018, and return call sign WQNH254 to active status.”

Courtesy TRDaily

Pai Seeks Updates on California Wildfires

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said today he has asked for regular updates on the impact of Los Angeles-area wildfires on telecommunications networks and public safety communications services. “As devastating fires continue to hit Southern California, our thoughts and prayers go out to those in the paths of these flames, and we thank the first responders working tirelessly to combat these blazes,” Mr. Pai said in a statement.

“Given our role to promote the safety of all Americans by ensuring communities have resilient communications networks and remain connected to emergency call centers, we stand ready to assist in any way possible.  I have requested regular updates from the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which is monitoring the impact of the wildfires on communications services and coordinating with our government partners.  To date, we are aware of minor impacts to communications infrastructure resulting from the loss of power.  We continue to track the situation and are prepared to provide assistance to our federal, state, and local emergency first responders on the ground. Lastly, I am pleased to hear reports that Wireless Emergency Alerts have been used successfully to warn affected communities, including the use of clickable URLs in text messages that give the public direct access to additional public safety information.”

Courtesy TRDaily

Comment Sought on 2017 Hurricane Season Response Efforts

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The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau released a public notice today seeking comments on “the resiliency of the communications infrastructure, the effectiveness of emergency communications, and government and industry responses to the 2017 hurricane season.”

The public notice seeks answers to a number of questions.

“The Bureau will identify, from the comments received, areas for further exploration in workshop(s) to be held in the coming months on improving future response efforts,” it said. “While this Public Notice is primarily focused on the effectiveness of preparation and response activities for the 2017 hurricane season, PSHSB will coordinate with the Hurricane Recovery Task Force on issues or opportunities which should be addressed in long-term Hurricane Maria recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including potential recovery-focused workshop(s). The areas below focus on impacts to the communications infrastructure; FCC response efforts; and experiences of communications service users as well as communications services providers. In addition to providing comment on the specific questions below, commenters are encouraged to provide any additional information relevant to the 2017 hurricane season’s impact on communications, generally, or specific to any hurricane event. Commenters are also encouraged to include examples of effective and/or ineffective practices/methods.”

Comments are due Jan. 22, 2018, and replies Feb. 21, 2018, in PS docket 17-344.

“We want to hear from all stakeholders, including the public safety community; state, local, territorial, and tribal officials; industry; consumer groups; and federal response partners,” Lisa Fowlkes, chief of the Public Safety Bureau, said in a blog posting today on the public notice. “This input will inform the workshop(s) that we plan to hold next year to further explore the matter.  Our aim is to build on successful approaches and develop options to address shortfalls as we prepare for future disasters.  We are also considering what additional steps will assist this process.” —Paul Kirby, paul.kirby@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily