News FCC passes new rules to enhance reliability, access to 988 Lifeline service 21st July 2023 FCC commissioners today unanimously approved new rules that are designed to ensure that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is as accessible as possible by requiring service providers to report outages to key stakeholders in a timely manner and try to reroute 988 calls to available crisis centers. Last December, the 988 Lifeline—the three-digit number […]
Commentary Progress on Release 18 features continues at June 3GPP Plenary meetings; Release 19 remains on track 20th July 2023 The 3GPP Plenary meetings took place June 12-16, 2023, in Taipei, Taiwan. The Technical Specification Group (TSG) reports below highlight solid progress on Release 18 (R18) features of interest for public safety, including the completion of the architecture (stage 2) and the steady development on the protocol work (stage 3). The Plenary meetings also included […]
Partner content Rising insurance costs could force apartment sales, threaten new development 20th July 2023 As rents have moderated, apartment owners have been hit with many cost increases over the last year. Property taxes have gone up. Utility and labor costs have jumped. And that doesn’t take into account the potential millions of extra dollars needed to pay debt service for floating-rate loans. Add on insurance costs that have jumped […]
Partner content White House launches IoT cybersecurity labeling program 20th July 2023 The Biden administration has launched its long-awaited Cyber Trust Mark, a cybersecurity labeling program for IoT devices. The program is being established to offer greater transparency around the security of connected devices, giving these items cybersecurity certifications to provide consumers with greater insight into the potential threats. Officials have likened the scheme to the energy […]
Partner content Linux ransomware poses significant threat to critical infrastructure 19th July 2023 Linux systems run many of the most critical operations behind the scenes, including a good deal of our nation’s critical infrastructure, and now more ransomware groups are introducing Linux versions. If these systems are disrupted by a ransomware attack, it could cause a catastrophic event. Ransomware attacks on these systems could make the Colonial Pipeline disruption look […]
Partner content Pioneer, Indigo tap out of U.S. wireless market amid changes to roaming market 19th July 2023 Pioneer Cellular in Oklahoma and Indigo Wireless in Pennsylvania have decided to exit the US wireless industry. They are the latest small wireless network operators to do so. The operators’ decisions likely reflect the increasing pressures that have challenged the nation’s small wireless network operators to compete with giant, nationwide wireless providers like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. […]
News UK public-safety agencies caught in middle of much-delayed proposed Airwave-ESN transition 17th July 2023 Costs associated with the UK Home Office’s failure to deliver the LTE-based Emergency Services Network (ESN) as a replacement for the TETRA-based Airwave system owned by Motorola Solutions should not be borne solely by public-safety agencies, according to the head of a Parliament committee overseeing the ESN project. ESN was supposed to be completed in […]
Partner content White House fills in details of National Cybersecurity Strategy 17th July 2023 Fresh from the federal policy mill, the Biden Administration’s 57-page National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan (NCSIP) describes more than 65 initiatives that various federal agencies will implement during the next several years. These include strengthening US critical infrastructure against cyber threats, establishing enforceable liability for software products and services, and devising more effective ways to disrupt and […]
Partner content Doubts grow over viability of UK’s LTE-based ESN 17th July 2023 The problems encountered by the UK’s Emergency Services Network (ESN) have been well documented, but it seems that certain long-time observers of the troubled system are now daring to think the unthinkable: could it be that the ESN will never in fact become a reality, at least in its present form? Originally heralded as a […]
Partner content Smart-city technology project reaches 100-city milestone 17th July 2023 Rubicon, a developer of smart waste and recycling solutions for smart cities, has reached a new milestone. The company’s smart city technology has now been deployed in more than 100 cities. The milestone was achieved in six years and includes the cities of Houston, Miami, Atlanta and Denver, all of which were added at the […]
Is LMR the best solution for first responders? Should 4.9 GHz license go to the FirstNet Authority? 24th March 2024
FirstNet Authority reauthorization needed as public-safety-driven network evolution proceeds 16th March 2024