I will try not to be repetitive, especially on 10-9! If you don’t get that, look up the APCO 10-codes that were used in public safety communications and in some areas still are. In any event, the new norm is plain English for all radio communications.

FirstNet held a Board of Directors meeting last Friday and a lot of good information came out of the meeting. Chief McEwen (Ret), Chairman of the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC), gave a good report and talked about the one of the most daunting remaining issues with sharing the Public Safety spectrum with secondary users: pre-emption, when needed, that will give Public Safety full access to the spectrum. Most of the time this pre-emption will take place only over a few cell sectors or cell sites surrounding the incident but when the spectrum is needed it is needed without having to request that someone “throw a switch.” It needs to be 100% effective and near instantaneous.

Both the FirstNet CEO and the President gave very informative updates to the Board and to those on the web-cast, and all of the slides for the meeting, as well as those for the combined committee meetings the day before can be found here: http://www.firstnet.gov/content/firstnet-board-meeting-october-1-2-2015.

I was very pleased with FirstNet’s decision to limit the responders to the RFP to nationwide partners instead of the original approach of both regional and nationwide responses. I think that while there will be fewer bidders at the table, the fact that there will be one partner responsible for working with FirstNet and the Public Safety community will solve a lot of network growing pains going forward. I also think that this move, along with FirstNet also coming down on the side of not permitting states that opt out to share in the secondary revenue, will cut down the number of states considering opting out.

I am sorry the Board is going ahead with what is still verbalized by them as an acquisition instead of making changes to render the RFP more partner-friendly. I think their use of the term acquisition over and over again may not seem like a big deal but to me it highlights the attitude of those who will be running the RFP process for the federal government. Having a partner stand up and put $25 to $40 billion into this network over ten years does not sound like an acquisition to me. Perhaps it could be classified as the acquisition of a partner for FirstNet and Public Safety but not a pure acquisition.

Which brings me to the part of the Board meeting that really got my attention and my temper up. The Under Secretary of the DHS stated basically that there are some very hard working federal employees and that comments demeaning them were not appropriate. I agree with this, I work with a number of them on a regular basis. However, I also know there are some who are so steeped in how it has been done in the past that they have no vision of how it might be done in this case. She also said that she works with private/public partnerships on a daily basis, “and I will say in the business that I’m in, we work in a partnership with the private sector every day and it is a struggle every day to make sure that we are letting the private sector do what it does best and that we are bringing to the table our comparative advantage is the way I talked about it.”

Okay this is probably a true statement but I would respectfully request a list of private sector government partners that are investing money in the $billions in order to perhaps some day make a profit from the investment. What I really take issue with is her statement: “But it is our responsibility that we’re very cognizant of and will observe and ensure what happens to make sure that as that goes forward the RFP spells-out the public interest imperative and that those are observed every step along the way and that is for public safety and for the American public.”

I was amazed to hear that the federal government is the only organization in the partnership that will watch out for the best interests of the citizens of this country. I guess my view is that the Public Safety community does a darn good job of that while in many cases the federal government has not done a credible job in protecting the American Public from whatever they need to be protected against? Any public/private or in this case private/public partnership (because of the private investment) that is created here from the responses to the RFP has to be one where the three partners, the vendor(s), FirstNet, and most importantly Public Safety, feel good about the partnership, know how to work within its scope and guidelines, and know that when problems arise as they are bound to, that the three partners have agreed beforehand how to go about settling the issue. If the federal partner expects to be heavy-handed when problems arise this partnership is doomed to failure from the start. Have a great weekend Andy

FirstNet Team Issues List of Cyber Concerns – Benton Foundation via Google Alerts Oct  8 13:20 A proposed broadband network for the nation’s public-safety professionals must be robust against intrusions — but not so much it prevents those …

New bill would require FCC, NTIA to find more spectrum for wireless, both licensed and unlicensed – FierceWireless via Google Alerts Oct  6 14:45 … 2015,” asks the FCC to work with the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) to create reports for the House and Senate.

FirstNet says opt-out states must share revenues, meet nationwide network policies – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Oct  5 17:20 … MHz of 700 MHz broadband spectrum that is licensed to FirstNet, which is mandated to build out a nationwide broadband network for public safety.

FirstNet Approves Nationwide Provider Approach, Offers Final Legal Interpretations – Radio Resource via Google Alerts Oct  3 19:02 The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) board approved a …

FCC urges action on US rural connectivity challenges – Mobile World Live via Google Alerts Oct  9 05:13 FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn said she is not happy about the lack of universal mobile broadband service across the US, insisting that far too …

FirstNet releases cybersecurity plan, seeks comments by Oct. 16for now – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Oct  8 07:16 Given the sensitive nature of public-safety communications, members of the public-safety communications repeatedly have cited cybersecurity as a …

Rural carriers still trying to assess FirstNet opportunity – Urgent Communications via Google Alerts Oct  8 05:35 Less than a week after the FirstNet board approved a nationwide procurement strategy to build its public-safety broadband network, rural carriers …

Blue Light Solution – LTE Public Safety Networks High on the A… – TelcoProfessionals via Google Alerts Oct  8 00:25 Lesia Dickson, Outreach and Education Coordinator, Texas Public Safety Broadband Program will speak on a session titled; Guaranteeing …

Wheeler, Clyburn Highlight Telehealth as Benefit of Broadband Networks – National Public Safety Telecommunications Council – NPSTC via Google Alerts Oct  7 21:16 FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon L. Clyburn today both emphasized that the value of broadband service lies in the uses that …

DHS-OEC’s Emergency Communications Forum Newsletter Now Available – National Public Safety Telecommunications Council – NPSTC via Google Alerts Oct  6 12:15 ECF-Volume 17 includes: Highlights from OEC’s engagement at the 2015 Association of Public-Safety Communication Officials (APCO) Conference …

FirstNet OKs key RFP elements – Benton Foundation via Google Alerts Oct  6 05:50 The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) board approved key …

Nokia Networks unveils mission-critical LTE for public safety – Wireless Magazine via Google Alerts Oct  5 23:01 Nokia Networks has begun marketing a 4G LTE broadband public safety …

WiFi Wireless Broadband Solution – 4G LTE CPE | Dual Mode CPE | WiMAX CPE | 4G LTE mifi via Google Alerts Oct  9 06:20 The National Broadband Plan is considered as an important measure to eliminate the Digital Divide in the global informatization era. Broadband …

FirstNet: When will it Happen? – Wade 4 Wireless via Google Alerts Oct  8 13:20 I believe that they would prefer to build their own networks but they don’t see …

700 mhz band sale – genx.life via Google Alerts Oct  8 11:45 AT&T Mobility said it will need to wait until it deploys Voice over LTE nationwide to support CDMA voice roaming on its 700 MHz spectrum. Germany’s …

Small ISP Claims Neutrality Rules Violate Its Free Speech Rights – DSL Reports via Google Alerts Oct  8 08:35 In a new filing with the FCC, a small ISP by the name of Alamo Broadband has once again declared that the FCC’s new net neutrality rules should be …

FCC – Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Announces Region 21 – Colorado Media.Net via Google Alerts Oct  8 06:50 From the FCC: Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau Announces Region 21 (Michigan) 700 MHz and 800 MHz Regional Planning …

AT&T turned on 700 MHz interoperability feature in network, is selling Band 12-capable devices – Tech Investor News via Google Alerts Oct  6 03:40 AT&T Mobility said it continues to work with several smaller carriers, likely including T-Mobile US and U.S. Cellular, to create roaming between …

Site Navigation – Radio Resource via Google Alerts Oct  6 02:10 Market research firm IHS forecasted market growth of more than 13 percent in the installed base of active narrowband radios in the Middle East and …

(VHF(Very High Frequency)/UHF(Ultra High Frequency) Wideband Tactical Secure Voice System … – Acronym Finder via Google Alerts Oct  5 05:15 … Frequency)/UHF(Ultra High Frequency) Wideband Tactical Secure Voice System Cryptographic Equipment)-ANDVT (Advanced Narrowband Digital …