https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

content


FCC’s Martin calls for new public-safety bureau

FCC’s Martin calls for new public-safety bureau

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin yesterday proposed establishing a new bureau within the FCC focused on public safety and homeland security after commissioners listened to three hours of testimony about communications struggles related to Hurricane Katrina.
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 16th September 2005

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin yesterday proposed establishing a new bureau within the FCC focused on public safety and homeland security after commissioners listened to three hours of testimony about communications struggles related to Hurricane Katrina.

During the hurricane, more than 3 million people lost phone service, more than 1000 wireless towers were knocked down and more than 100 broadcast stations were knocked off the air, Martin said. This made communications with victims of the storm difficult, and even first responders had difficulty communicating.

“It is at times like these that we are reminded of the importance of being able tocommunicate,” Martin said. “While no communications network could be expected to remain fully operational in the face of a direct hit from a category four or five hurricane, that fact was little consolation to the people on the ground.”

In an effort to avoid similar communications problems in the future, Martin said he will create an independent expert panel of public-safety officials and communications representatives to review the impact of Hurricane Katrina. The panel will be asked to make recommendations to improve disaster preparedness, network reliability and communications between first responders.

Perhaps of greater long-term impact will be Martin’s proposal to establish a public-safety/homeland security bureau within the FCC to coordinate all public-safety and national security activities within the agency. Martin said the new bureau’s responsibilities would include the following issues:

* Public-safety communications, including 911 centers and first responders;

* Priority emergency communications;

* Alerting and warning U.S. citizens;

* Continuity of government operations;

* Disaster-management coordination;

* Disaster-management outreach;

* Communications infrastructure protection;

* Network reliability and interoperability; and

* Network security.

Commissioner Michael Copps applauded Martin’s proposal, noting that the FCC had waited “too long” to take action to fulfill its national-security obligations granted under the 1934 Communication Act. Copps had proposed the creation of such an FCC bureau during a keynote speech at the conclusion of this year’s APCO annual conference in August—a speech delivered days before Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S.

“In addition to working on specific interoperability and redundancy challenges, this bureau should serve as convener, facilitator and expediter, helping local public-safety organizations share ideas, prepare plans, vet proposals and coordinate them with both government and industry,” Copps said. “Why should every jurisdiction across this broad land have to start at square one when others have already done a lot of work?”

Willis Carter, first vice president of APCO and chief of communications for the Shreveport, La., fire department, testified that 911 service was impossible in some areas and that communications to field units was “very limited.” In addition to the hurricane winds damaging tower and transmitter sites, power outages and flooding rendered many public-safety communications systems useless, he said.

Among other things, Carter recommended that public-safety answering points (PSAPs) be considered to be “core elements” of the first-response structure and that all PSAPs—and their supporting infrastructure from commercial carriers—be “mirrored” in a remote location to provide an alternative when evacuation or technical problems require dispatchers to work elsewhere.

Carter also called for funding to ensure that public-safety networks are built to withstand “worst-case scenarios” and additional spectrum earmarked for disaster-related deployment of communications systems.

“Just as September 11th, 2001, helped to focus the nation on the communications issues facing our first responders, Hurricane Katrina has revealed that much still needs to be accomplished to provide public-safety personnel with the communications tools they need to protect the safety of life and property,” Carter said.

Carter was one of 12 witnesses to speak before the commission, which met in BellSouth’s emergency-response center in Atlanta. Multiple stories were told of the challenges—not just from the weather but also from gunshots being fired at technicians trying to repair infrastructure—and unprecedented cooperation between business competitors to restore communications.

Rod Odom, BellSouth’s network services president, said the hurricane reinforced the fact that modern communications networks “are increasingly dependent on power,” noting that many instances of communications loss were not a result of physical damage to networks.

“Many of the communications failures are not a failure of connectivity but a failure caused by a lack of power at point or another in the network,” Odom said.

Tags: Regulation content Policy Public Safety

Most Recent


  • UK Home Office plans to seek MCPTT option to Motorola Solutions for ESN, CMA says
    UK Home Office officials plan to procure a mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT) service from a vendor other than Motorola Solutions for the Emergency Services Network (ESN), but it has asked the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) to impose new interworking requirements on Motorola Solutions. Public-safety agencies in the UK primarily rely on TETRA radio service from Airwave […]
  • VMware, airline targeted as ransomware chaos reigns
    Ransomware incidents are on the rise and this week proved no exception, with the discovery of a Linux-based ransomware family called Cheerscrypt targeting VMware ESXi servers and an attack on SpiceJet, India’s second largest airline. Meanwhile, an oddball “GoodWill” variant purports to help the needy. The Cheerscrypt ransomware variant was uncovered by Trend Micro and relies on […]
  • Artificial intelligence used to detect guns at schools
    At around midday on Tuesday, May 24 an 18-year-old shooter walked into an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and shot and killed 21 people including 19 children. It is the second worst mass school shooting in U.S. history. There have been 30 mass shootings at K-12 schools so far in 2022. “I am sick and […]
  • Restrictions on Chinese imports hurting equipment vendors working in India
    Vendors have requested a relaxation on imports from China so that domestic telecom operators can roll out upgraded networks faster. With 5G deployment around the corner, telecom equipment vendors are finding themselves in a catch-22 situation. Since the Indo-Sino clash on the Galwan border in 2020, cross-border trade with China has been severely restricted. Multinational […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Cyber is the new Cold War, and AI is the arms race
  • Private wireless networks in the US start going public
  • Microsoft patches 6 zero-day vulnerabilities under active attack
  • The battle over connected cars drags on

Commentary


LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command

  • 2
6th May 2022

Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications

18th April 2022

FirstNet success means no hypothetical ‘shots’ need to be fired, Swenson says

22nd February 2022
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

UK Home Office plans to seek MCPTT option to Motorola Solutions for ESN, CMA says dlvr.it/SRBWsD

27th May 2022
UrgentComm

Dubai to use satellite IoT terminals for utility industry dlvr.it/SRB0Jn

27th May 2022
UrgentComm

VMware, airline targeted as ransomware chaos reigns dlvr.it/SR9gBZ

27th May 2022
UrgentComm

Artificial intelligence used to detect guns at schools dlvr.it/SR8wBY

27th May 2022
UrgentComm

Restrictions on Chinese imports hurting equipment vendors working in India dlvr.it/SR8sj7

27th May 2022
UrgentComm

Infrastructure improvements in cities often feature clean energy or connected technologies dlvr.it/SR8n7G

27th May 2022
UrgentComm

Panasonic Connect launches Toughbook 40 rugged laptop dlvr.it/SR5vl2

26th May 2022
UrgentComm

Newscan: ‘Predator’ spyware let government hackers break into Chrome and Android, Google says dlvr.it/SR2lBG

25th May 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X