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FirstNet reviewing state-plan comments, remains on schedule for ‘opt-in/opt-out’ decisions

All states and territories have submitted formal or informal comments about their initial state plans to FirstNet, which expects to respond to the comments and integrate the input in final state plans that are slated to be distributed to governors in mid-September, according to a FirstNet official.

News

LMR demand in North America remains strong, Motorola Solutions CEO says

Demand for land-mobile-radio (LMR) systems in North America “if anything, continues to go up,” despite media reports of declining LMR licensing activity in the United States, Motorola Solutions Chairman and CEO Greg Brown says during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call.

News

U.S. Senate passes ‘Kari’s Law’ legislation by unanimous consent

United States senators approve “Kari’s Law” legislation—requiring the ability to direct-dial 911 on multi-line telephone systems (MLTS) frequently used by hotels, offices and other enterprises—by unanimous consent, greatly improving the potential for the bill to become law later this year.

News

Michigan becomes first state to ‘opt-in’ to FirstNet after issuing an RFP

Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signs a letter accepting the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) deployment plan offered by FirstNet and AT&T. The action makes Michigan the ninth state to “opt-in” to the FirstNet system—and the first among the states that issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a vendor partner under a potential “opt-out” scenario.

News

Rural transit agency makes transition from LMR to push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC) solution

A transit system providing bus service to a largely rural territory covering seven counties in Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska expects to save about $30,000 per year after replacing its aging LMR system with a push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC) solution—a communications trend that is gathering momentum throughout the enterprise sector.

News

Motorola Solutions inks deal to buy Airbus DS Communications

Motorola Solutions announces plans to bolster its 911 portfolio and next-generation 911 plans by purchasing the North American assets of Airbus DS Communications—notably, its industry-leading VESTA platform—in a deal that is expected to close by the end of the year.

News

LMR licensing activity at all-time low levels, according to FCC’s online database

Demand for spectrum to support U.S. land-mobile-radio (LMR) networks is at its lowest level since 2001, with the number of license approvals projected to drop by more than 50% since the 2013 narrowbanding deadline and by more than 40% during the past two years, according to statistics from the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS) online database.

News

West Virginia becomes seventh state to ‘opt-in’ to FirstNet

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announces that his state accepts the FirstNet deployment plan for the state, which is the seventh to “opt-in” to the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN).

News

Oklahoma, Missouri issue RFPs seeking vendors to build FirstNet RAN alternatives

Oklahoma and Missouri issue requests for proposals (RFPs) designed to solicit bids to build and maintain the public-safety LTE radio access networks (RAN) in the respective states, if their governors decide to pursue the “opt-out” alternative to the proposed FirstNet buildout later this year.

News

AT&T exec shares capacity-based FirstNet Band 14 deployment plans with Congress

AT&T will deploy infrastructure on the 20 MHz of 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum that is licensed to FirstNet only in geographic locations where the carrier giant determines it needs additional bandwidth capacity, an AT&T executive said during a Senate subcommittee hearing.

News

FirstNet reviewing state-plan comments, remains on schedule for ‘opt-in/opt-out’ decisions

News

LMR demand in North America remains strong, Motorola Solutions CEO says

News

U.S. Senate passes ‘Kari’s Law’ legislation by unanimous consent

News

Michigan becomes first state to ‘opt-in’ to FirstNet after issuing an RFP

News

Rural transit agency makes transition from LMR to push-to-talk-over-cellular (PoC) solution

News

Motorola Solutions inks deal to buy Airbus DS Communications

News

LMR licensing activity at all-time low levels, according to FCC’s online database

News

West Virginia becomes seventh state to ‘opt-in’ to FirstNet

News

Oklahoma, Missouri issue RFPs seeking vendors to build FirstNet RAN alternatives

News

AT&T exec shares capacity-based FirstNet Band 14 deployment plans with Congress

Commentary

September 3GPP Plenary: 6G officially begins, Release 19 on track

Latest 3GPP standards-development work includes new classes of HPUE, progress on mission-critical services

Is LMR the best solution for first responders? Should 4.9 GHz license go to the FirstNet Authority?

Video

Check out key takeaways from Disaster Management Symposium webinars, register to view archives

Video: Opening of the Expo Hall on day three of IWCE 2023

Lynk CEO Charles Miller: The sky’s the limit

Events

UC Ezines

IWCE 2019 Wrap Up