Urgent Matters

Public safety anxiously awaits 700 MHz broadband direction

• 10th May 2012

Some of those most instrumental in stating the case for public safety’s need for additional spectrum and funding have been left in a rather uncomfortable limbo while anxiously awaiting word from the nation’s capital about the next steps they should take.

For a good time, call Bill Schrier

• 8th May 2012

One of my favorite people is Bill Schrier, who recently departed for the private sector after 29½ years in government, the last 8½ of which were spent as the CIO for the city of Seattle. The headline above this column is my attempt at some good-natured teasing of Schrier, with whom I spoke today. What I actually meant by the headline is that I thoroughly enjoy my conversations with him.

Panel: LTE, LMR will have to co-exist for a significant period

• 5th May 2012

Like most in the public-safety industry, none of the panelists expressed confidence about how long LMR and LTE systems will need to co-exist in the public-safety sector, but the general consensus was that it will be at least a decade.

Sometimes you just have to grin and bear it

• 3rd May 2012

Some states have laws on the books to punish those who call 911 for events that aren’t truly emergencies. But, as Trey Fogerty — director of government affairs for the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) — noted, it’s not always easy or expedient to enforce these laws.

The long arm of broadband

• 1st May 2012

There are some who believe that the public-safety broadband network is much more a law-enforcement play, and that the fire and emergency medical services won’t benefit nearly as much. I am certain that those people are wrong.

A mother like no other

• 1st April 2012

NTIA has several good candidates for FirstNet board

• 20th March 2012

I’d like to make a few suggestions regarding the makeup of the vitally important FirstNet board. The first is that each of the three major disciplines that make up public safety — police, fire and EMS — should be represented by at least one board member, because these segments will be most affected by the deployment of this network.

Wireless can change the world — just ask Marty Cooper

• 23rd February 2012

The man who changed the world by leading the team that invented the cellular phone three decades ago yesterday challenged the wireless industry to harness its collective power to change it again.

It’s a great day for public safety

• 16th February 2012

So many metaphors come to mind when trying to describe the monumental feat of getting the D Block reallocated to public safety. I will opt for “miracle,” because when O’Brien first suggested the idea for this network, the collective reaction can be summed up in this sentence: “It would be a miracle if public safety ever got a nationwide broadband communications network of its own.”

A very urgent communication (with related video)

• 31st January 2012

It would be one thing to wander aimlessly in search of a restaurant should the navigation application on my smartphone fail, and quite another if I were to develop Alzheimer’s and my alert/locator device fail because the GPS wasn’t working.