by AllThingsECC.com | Jan 15, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
Public-safety use of the 4.9 GHz spectrum band should be protected via a priority-and-preemption rules that allows sharing with critical-infrastructure entities, but exactly how this scheme is implemented remains a topic of considerable debate, according to dozens of comments to the FCC exploring the matter.
Comments about the best use of 4.9 GHz (4940 MHz to 4990 MHz) were due to the FCC in the latest proceeding about the airwaves, which traditionally have been dedicated to public safety but have been underutilized in the paAll Postsst, according to FCC commissioners. In the proceeding, the FCC is examining an alternative path for the band rather than implement the state-licensing scheme approved during the fall of 2020—rules that were halted last year…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jan 13, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
In last week’s Advocate, I wrote about how far we have come in meeting our goal of interoperability and outlined some of the major items we still need to address. This week we will take a deeper dive into where we are today and what remains to be done.
First, let’s look at where we are today and what needs to be done this year. Yes, these things can be completed by the end of the year if public safety, FirstNet (Built with AT&T), the FirstNet Authority, and the vendor community can come to a consensus. As I have said before, this is not rocket science. A large number of agencies already use one of the FirstNet-approved Push-To-Talk (PTT) applications over the FirstNet network, over their LMR (Land Mobile Radio) systems, and to and from other agencies. If the vendor community won’t step up and take part in providing nationwide PTT interoperability, today’s FirstNet-approved PTT vendors that interoperate with each other will be able to go it alone and deliver the solution.
by AllThingsECC.com | Jan 13, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Enforcement Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications has entered into Consent Decrees with four major telecom carriers in connection with a system outage that prevented them from delivering 911 emergency calls.
The companies, CenturyLink, Intrado Safety Communications, Cellco Partnership (d/b/a Verizon Wireless), and AT&T Mobility, have agreed to pay a total of nearly $6.3 million in financial penalties for their roles in four separate 911 outages in September 2020. The outages ranged in length from one to three hours and affected users in multiple states across the U.S…
by ECC Editor | Jan 13, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
Most people know to dial 911 when emergency assistance is needed. While there is no denying the current 911 system has helped save countless lives since first introduced, it was primarily developed to work for landline phones.
With over 80% of 911 calls coming from mobile devices today, the need for an updated emergency response system is essential.
At NGA, we’ve heard our fair share of common misconceptions concerning public safety infrastructures and 911 myths stemming from outdated emergency response systems… READ MORE
by AllThingsECC.com | Jan 11, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released its Public Safety Communications Security white paper today in an effort to explain the importance of Communications Security (COMSEC), basic elements of a COMSEC program, and how to develop an encryption strategy to prevent and mitigate unauthorized access to information.
The white paper focuses on the security of reliable land mobile radio (LMR) communications, with an emphasis on encryption – a critical part of COMSEC…
by AllThingsECC.com | Jan 11, 2022 | Articles, Comm Center News
A career in public safety is not about being a hero in the spotlight, but the fact is that first responders often find themselves in the “starring role” of many incidents, some traumatic. And while the type of first responder in the spotlight will differ from incident to incident depending on the type of emergency at hand, there is one branch of emergency services that rarely finds itself the focus of attention: emergency telecommunicators.
Despite the significant level of responsibility dispatchers bear in any type of emergency event, they are essentially invisible. Their lack of on-scene presence often makes them more of a disembodied information source than a team member. This invisibility can lead to several issues, including a lack of post-incident analysis and debriefing…
