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| WCA Public Safety and Homeland Security |
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| JULY 17, 2008 |
Exalt Upgrades Orleans County's Emergency Communications System
Exalt Communications announced that Orleans County, New York, has selected Exalt to upgrade Orleans County public safety and municipal agencies, which operate mission critical voice and data communications systems. Details. |
| JULY 10, 2008 |
Senate Approves FISA Bill With Telecom Immunity
The Senate voted 69-28 Wednesday to approve legislation that would revamp the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and offer retroactive immunity to telecom service providers alleged to have participated in the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program. According to TR Daily, senators defeated three amendments that sought to delete or tone down the measure’s telco liability protection language. By passing HR 6304, the FISA Amendments Act, the Senate joined the House in backing a bill that would, among other things, require district courts to dismiss the 40-odd lawsuits filed against telcos if the attorney general verified the president’s backing of their surveillance efforts between Sept. 11, 2001, and Jan. 17, 2007, as efforts “designed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack, or activities in preparation for a terrorist attack, against the United States.” The legislation was signed into law today by President Bush.
Five Cities Test High-Tech 911 System
Five cities across the U.S. are testing a new national 911 system that would allow communications with police and other emergency personnel by text message and take advantage of the latest technology to pinpoint accident scenes, according to USA Today, which further reported: Call centers in Rochester, NY; Bozeman, MT; King County, WA; St. Paul; and Fort Wayne, IN, began testing the Department of Transportation's Next Generation 9-1-1 system in June with the goal of replacing the four-decades-old technology that governs how the nation's 6,000-plus 911 call centers operate. Under the new system, emergency personnel could more quickly pin down the location of a call from a wireless network. The nation's 911 call centers would be more uniform and networked so that a call to a busy or incapacitated 911 center could instantly be routed to another center acting as a backup. Details.
Sprint Nextel Proposes 'Safety Valve' As Part Of Regional Clearing Of Spectrum
Sprint Nextel said the FCC should incorporate a "safety valve" provision to ensure that public safety agencies gain access to additional 800 MHz band interleaved channels if needed under its proposal to clear interleaved, guard band, and expansion band channels on a regional basis, according to TR Daily. The carrier's proposal follows a submission last month by three major public safety groups in which they expressed general support for Sprint Nextel's request to stay on the interleaved and other 800 MHz band spectrum past a June 26 deadline. In their filing, APCO and other public safety organizations said Sprint Nextel should have to clear interleaved channels by July 1, 2009, "at least upon 60-day notice that a public safety agency is prepared to operate on those channels." |
| JUNE 26, 2008 |
House Panel Restores First Responder Grants
The House Appropriations Committee this week largely restored funding cuts proposed by the Bush administration for state and local first responder grants in the fiscal year 2009 budget, reported TR Daily. It continued: Overall, discretionary spending for the Department of Homeland Security in the bill totaled $39.9 billion -- more than $2.2 billion above the FY 2008 level and nearly $2.3 billion above the level proposed by the administration.
House Approves 911 VoIP Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that will ease consumer access to 911 emergency services. According to Multichannel News: Supported by VoIP service providers, the bill mandates that VoIP users be granted interconnection to incumbents, with VoIP providers gaining access at the same rates, terms and capabilities granted to cellular phone service providers. Dubbed the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, the bill was previously approved by the House in November 2007 and this month by the unanimous consent of the Senate. The latter vote sent the bill back to the House for concurrence. Details.
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| JUNE 19, 2008 |
Senate Passes Compromise VoIP-911 Bill
A compromise version of VoIP "911" public safety legislation passed the Senate Monday by unanimous consent, with the House expected to approve it soon, reported TR Daily. The proposed New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act was passed as amended version of HR 3403. The bill requires VoIP providers to deliver 911 calls to the appropriate public safety answering point (PSAP), along with caller-location information, which the FCC directed VoIP providers to do three years ago. Unlike the FCC rules, however, the bill would give VoIP providers the same right to access 911 facilities that commercial mobile radio service providers have. Such facilities are typically controlled by incumbent local exchange carriers. The bill also would extend to VoIP providers and public safety officials liability protection for carrying VoIP 911 calls comparable to that granted for wireless 911 calls. |
| JUNE 12, 2008 |
Northrop Grumman Public Safety Case Studies Featured On WCA Website
A WCA 2008 keynote presentation by Northrop Grumman IT illustrating efficiencies in public safety enabled by broadband wireless has been posted on WCA’s Public Safety Committee website. The presentation by Executive Vice President Denzil Samuels is accompanied by a backgrounder of case studies, including New York City’s $500 million wireless public safety being build by Northrop Grumman (with the help of NextWave, among others) and a public safety network in Silicon Valley. Looking ahead, WCA is on track for future initiatives that will help provide even stronger visibility in the appropriate circles for public safety. First, WCA's 700 MHz Committee is ramping up for an important role in both the FCC reauction of public safety spectrum, and in related efforts. Second, WCA's Symposium in San Jose from Nov. 4-6 will have an especially strong public safety component this year. |
| JUNE 5, 2008 |
Chertoff: Technology Alone Won’t Ensure Public Safety Interoperability
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that technology alone will not ensure first-responders from various agencies are able to communicate with each other, stressing the importance of protocols and standards, reported TR Daily. It continued: While current “gateway technologies” enable interoperability, “technology by itself is not a magic bullet,” Chertoff said. There also is a need for “common languages, common protocol for communications, and common standards,” he said. Without these priorities, “no amount of technology” will ensure interoperability, he added. Another DHS official, Jose Vazquez, director-first responder technologies, said governance and training are crucial for successfully implementing interoperability among public safety agencies. |
| APRIL 17 , 2008 |
E911 Institute Leader Rohde Featured In Session On Emergency Communications
Former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator Gregory Rohde of e-Copernicus, who also is Executive Director of the E911 Institute, will headline a convention panel on April 23 focusing on how the broadband wireless can meet the huge challenges in meeting federal E911 requirements. These require geographic location capabilities for emergency calls made over broadband VoIP services. Other participants are WCA Government Relations Committee Chair Terri Natoli of Clearwire, WCA Board Member Thomas Jasny of Samsung and WCA Counsel Paul Sinderbrand. In related news, WCA Board member Harris Stratex Networks announced a $9.1 million contract with the City of San Jose, CA to install an Emergency Communications private microwave radio network. The network is designed to support interoperable communications between law enforcement, fire protection and emergency medical services for 31 different agencies in 18 jurisdictions throughout Santa Clara County. Harris Stratex will speak on two related topics at WCA 2008 next week. Details. |
| MARCH 20, 2008 |
House, Senate Support Restored Funding For State, Local Grants
The House and Senate have passed fiscal year 2009 budget resolutions that back restoring funding for state and local first responder grants, compared to the sharp cuts the Bush administration proposed in its budget, according to TR Daily, which further reported: The White House is proposing to spend $2.2 billion on state and local assistance programs for FY 2009 - the same level it proposed last year but down about $1.9 billion from the $4.1 billion Congress appropriated in FY 2008. Among the grants, the administration is proposing $200 million for the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP), compared with $950 million in the current year. |
| JANuary 17, 2008 |
WCA Public Safety & Homeland Security Subcommittee Sets Ambitious New Agenda
An ambitious new agenda is being planned for WCA’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Subcommittee. Chairman Arno J. Kosko of KCC Consulting (and formerly of a leader in U.S. Department of State communications construction efforts in Iraq) has recruited Harris-Stratex Networks Vice President, International Sales and WCA Board member Paul Kennard to serve as deputy chairman, with an outreach program intended to create a strong impact both in the U.S. and internationally. The group has scheduled a conference call for 11 a.m. (Eastern) on Wednesday, Feb. 20. Among topics to be address on the calls (and in presentations by Committee members and public officials at WCA 2008 in April) will be the latest options for wireless security, interoperability and bandwidth management public safety systems. For further information, visit the subcommittee’s website or contact its chairman by email.
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| February 15, 2007 |
Public Safety, Sprint Nextel To Seek New 800 MHz Transition Benchmarks
The public safety community and Sprint Nextel plan to ask the FCC within the next two weeks to direct the 800 MHz Transition Administrator to recommend new benchmarks for public safety licensees, TR Daily reported quoting sources. The new milestones would extend the 36-month 800 MHz band transition, which started in June 2005.
Cyren Call's Public Safety Broadband Proposal Gets Skeptical Reception On The Hill
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee members appeared skeptical about the Cyren Call's public-safety broadband plan to use half of the 60 MHz in the 700 MHz band to create a nationwide interoperable network that public safety would operate, with excess capacity leased to commercial carriers. According to press reports, several senators expressed concern that the proposal backed by several major public-safety organizations could disrupt the DTV transition and delay the auction of 700 MHz frequencies that TV broadcasters must return in February 2009 as part of transition to digital technology. The auction is expected to raise up to $15 billion. Cyren Call Chairman Morgan O'Brien said, however, a delay "would be a terrible mistake and no one at Cyren Call would support that."
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| January 25, 2007 |
Measure To Improve Emergency Communications Introduced In U.S. Senate
U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Chairmen Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) and Ted Stevens (R-AK) introduced the Interoperable Emergency Communications Act to provide the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) more guidance on the award of $1 billion in interoperable emergency communications grants to public safety. The legislation does not interfere with the Sept. 30, 2007 deadline set by Congress for distribution of the $1 billion of interoperable communications grants. The bill would also allow up to $100 million of the expedited $1 billion be used to establish technology reserves that would assist emergency response agencies in pre-positioning communications equipment in states or regional facilities that can be quickly activated in the event of a major emergency or natural disaster.
House Homeland Security Chairman Seeks Federal Funding For Interoperability
The nation's cities need grants dedicated to urban interoperability programs, U.S. House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss) told the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting on Wednesday. "That way, cities won't be forced to rob Peter to pay Paul by using large chunks of homeland security grant funding -- in some instances 80% -- to purchase communications equipment instead of securing bridges, ports and buildings," Thompson said, as quoted by Communications Daily. "As a former volunteer firefighter for 26 years and as a former locally elected official, I know that the interoperability problem costs well into the billions." Congress should provide long-term funding to develop interoperable communication networks. A recent House Bill (HR-1) would provide such a program but would not fund it. For more background, visit Technology Daily. |
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