SAIC nominated as numbering administrator
A public-safety committee recently selected Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) to serve as the common numbering administrator for public-safety waiver recipients seeking to develop 700 MHz LTE networks.
SAIC — the numbering administrator for Canada — will be responsible for assigning public land-mobile network-identification (PLMN-ID) numbers for all public-safety gear associated with the LTE networks. Last month, the FCC adopted an order that created a single PLMN-ID structure for the much-anticipated nationwide broadband networks and required the 700 MHz waiver recipients to retain a numbering administrator.
Because the choice had to be named by Feb. 8, there was not sufficient time to use a competitive bidding process, according to Bill Schrier, chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust operator advisory committee (PSST-OAC), the organization that represents the waiver recipients. However, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Emergency Communications (DHS/OEC) said it would pay the cost of using SAIC as the numbering administrator for at least the first year through its technical assistance program.
“It’s a combination of meeting the terms of the order with a federal agency, finding someone quickly that met the criteria as a numbering administrator and the fact that it’s no cost to the waiver jurisdictions for at least the first year led us to SAIC,” Schrier said.
The PSST-OAC recommendation to hire SAIC as the numbering administrator was sent to the FCC’s public-safety and homeland-security bureau, which will make the final decision on the matter.
