Policy & Law Commentary

Licensees beware

A number of issues have been distorted on the Web. Narrowbanding, rebanding, construction rules, carrier obligations are but a few of the confused issues. When industry members rely on these misinterpretations of law, licenses can be lost, fines can be imposed and opportunities can be missed.

Uniting under P25

History has established P25 as a fully vetted, adopted and vibrant standard that continues to expand and grow with new technological enhancements and innovation created specifically with public-safety users’ needs in mind.

Rural 700 MHz filings worthy of attention

Waiver requests allowing early wireless broadband network buildouts for public-safety use in the 700 MHz band are not new, but they had come from governmental entities that typically have access to considerable funding resources — until last week.

Where’s the common sense regarding 911 use?

Recently, I read of two incidents where callers clearly abused the 911 system. In one, a parent called to report his son wouldn’t clean his room; in the other, the caller reported that French fries were missing from her fast-food order. What is wrong with these people?

Federal oversight of 911 funds is needed

This week, the National Emergency Number Association, National Association of State 911 Administrators and the 911 Industry Alliance jointly issued a policy statement that addressed the long-standing practice of state and local governments raiding funds collected to pay for 911 emergency communications systems. These groups pointed out that federal law requires state and local governments that impose 911 fees to use the money for the intended purpose. They also strongly urged state and local governments to “refrain from diverting 911 for unintended or unauthorized purposes.”

Broadband stimulus money to flow soon; How will public safety benefit?

The Obama administration announced that entities seeking broadband stimulus funding can begin to submit their applications on July 14 and will have until Aug. 14 to apply for the first round of funds that will be released by September.

Preparation is all

The decisions made by 911 call takers often mean the difference between life and death. That’s a lot of pressure. People often wilt under such pressure unless

Déjå vu all over again

If you’ve been in the industry for 10 years or more, you’ll remember the 800 MHz license mills and the fiasco they created for legitimate 800 MHz operators.
Now license mills are back.

Commentary

Proposals create 700 MHz shakeup

At the beginning of the week, it seemed like public safety was working diligently to forge a consensus on the 700 MHz broadband front, with multiple first-responder organizations expressing support for the use of LTE and that the commercial D Block should be reallocated to public safety. What a difference a few days makes.

700 MHz flurry encouraging for public safety

A series of announcements in the past several weeks has made many in the public-safety community cautiously optimistic that 700 MHz broadband networks for first-responder agencies could be built in the not-too-distant future.

Licensees beware

Uniting under P25

Rural 700 MHz filings worthy of attention

Where’s the common sense regarding 911 use?

Federal oversight of 911 funds is needed

Broadband stimulus money to flow soon; How will public safety benefit?

Preparation is all

Déjå vu all over again

Commentary

Proposals create 700 MHz shakeup

700 MHz flurry encouraging for public safety

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

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IWCE 2019 Wrap Up