Cisco upgrades interoperability platform 

By Glenn Bischoff

Cisco Systems today unveiled at CTIA Wireless 2007 in Orlando the next generation of its Interoperability Collaboration System, or IPICS, which offers improved management and security tools, as well as the ability to link an expanded roster of disparate devices...

IAFC seeks input regarding noise issue with digital radios 

By Donny Jackson

Common fireground noise, such as some alerting systems and active power tools, can render voice communications from digital radios unintelligible, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) said this week in an alert issued to its members...

IBM and Cisco launch emergency crisis response service 

By Mary Rose Roberts

IBM and Cisco recently collaborated on an emergency response service that mixes consultancy services with rugged voice- and data-communications systems designed to restore enterprise and government network systems during crises...

Frontline Wireless offers an alternative 700 MHz proposal 

By Donny Jackson

Frontline Wireless, a two-month-old startup boasting a trio of high-profile industry leaders, this week unveiled its proposal for a 700 MHz nationwide, broadband public-safety network that would utilize spectrum currently allocated for both commercial and public-safety use...

Raytheon begins interoperability pilot in the Quad Cities 

By Donny Jackson

Raytheon yesterday launched a six-month pilot program in the Quad Cities region of Illinois and Iowa that is designed to enhance interoperability and provide remote broadband access to first responders in the area...

Nuclear research organization uses access points in caverns  

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, is using Proxim Wireless’s ORiNOCO AP-4000 mesh access points to extend the range of the laboratory’s Wi-Fi network and to monitor the lab’s calorimeters as they descend into an underground cavern where experiments are conducted...

Federal court sides with FCC on VoIP E911  

By Glenn Bischoff

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently ruled that the FCC’s order that established a 120-day window for voice-over-IP, or VoIP, service providers to provide enhanced 911 services to subscribers was neither arbitrary nor capricious...

SK Telecom announces plans to use Staccato UWB in phones 

By Donny Jackson

Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom has announced plans to use Staccato Communications ultrawideband (UWB) platform to deliver the first UWB personal-area-network (PAN) services via mobile phone in late 2007...

LGC Wireless pays $15 million for Alvarion unit  

By Donny Jackson

In-building wireless solutions vendor LGC Wireless yesterday announced that it has closed a deal to pay $15 million for Alvarion’s cellular mobile unit (CMU) that will let LGC offer in-building systems that utilize readily available IP backhaul....

xG Technology goes public  

By Donny Jackson

Florida-based wireless startup xG Technology on Monday became a publicly traded company on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange....

Speaker: Narrowband digital signals at least as effective as P25  

By Glenn Bischoff

Icom America will release the results of an internal test during the next couple of weeks that indicate narrowband digital signals compare favorably to Project 25 digital signals, according to Chris Lougee, vice president of the company....

Speaker: Disaster communications ‘not ready’ a year after Katrina  

By Donny Jackson

There are many lessons to be learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but the public-safety communications problems cited in numerous reports likely will be repeated because critical issues are not being addressed, a first responder at the scene said during a panel at the IWCE/MRT Summit....

Speaker: Cognitive radio could be reality by 2010  

By Donny Jackson

FCC officials are preparing for much-anticipated cognitive radio products being available during the next three years, a Motorola official said during the opening keynote address at the IWCE-MRT Wireless Summit....

NetMotion includes QOS in latest Mobility XE release  

By Donny Jackson

Mobile VPN software vendor NetMotion Wireless yesterday announced the availability of Mobility XE version 7.1, which adds quality of service (QOS) features that should help mobile workers using latency-sensitive video or voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications....

Mixed message: FCC dismisses Cyren Call petition but continues to solicit comments 

By Donny Jackson

In an unusual procedural action, the FCC on Friday dismissed Cyren Call Communications’ petition for rulemaking that proposes a public-private partnership to build a nationwide broadband network for public safety utilizing 700 MHz spectrum earmarked for auction to commercial providers....