Monday, November 28, 2005

Mesh Network Market May See Tenfold Growth in Five Years: "Wireless mesh networking looks set to achieve a stellar growth rate by the end of the decade, but most of the growth will be in market segments not served by existing infrastructure. According to a new study from ABI Research, the increase will mostly come from deployments by alternative service providers and municipalities, rather than incumbent service providers. There will also be some 'campus' style deployments in academic, corporate and resort environments, as well as temporary rollouts at conferences or fairs."

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

NASCIO: Governance Models to Advance Communications Interoperability: "National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) announced the release of its new research brief, We Need to Talk: Governance Models to Advance Communications Interoperability. A product of NASCIO's Interoperability and Integration Committee, this brief is intended to provide an overview of the challenges states face in developing communications interoperability initiatives."

Friday, November 11, 2005

Dutch trial SMS disaster alert system: "The Dutch government is testing a mobile phone danger alert system that sends text messages to people who could be affected by natural disasters or terrorist attacks. The system, called Cell Broadcast, uses GSM technology to identify cell phone users in a particular area. If a disaster occurs, a message is sent to all phones in the area, warning of the danger."
Progress being made in radio communications: "SAN DIEGO – Significant progress has been made in the past year in creating standards for interoperable radio communications for first responders, a top federal communications official said today. For the first time, we’re able to say things are changing, things are moving,” said Dereck Orr, program manager of the Office of Law Enforcement Standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology."
Senate approves 700 MHz bill: "By a vote of 52-47, the U.S. Senate yesterday approved a bill that would make 700 MHz spectrum available to public-safety and commercial wireless operators on April 7, 2009. After being passed by the Senate Commerce Committee on Oct. 20, nothing was changed in the bill on the Senate floor. However, the committee version did not address funding allocations if the 700 MHz auction generates more than $10 billion, which is the current congressional estimate. Amendments on the Senate floor earmarked funding if the auction exceeds this threshold."

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Lessons from Katrina (GovTech): "Was Katrina such a catastrophic event that its effects couldn't be mitigated by better preparation or communication? No one was prepared to go that far. Questions about interoperability were quickly rebuffed -- how can there be interoperability when first responders in the same agency couldn't even talk to one another? "
Sprint Says It Remains Committed to iDEN: "While not speaking specifically to reports that the U.S. Department of Defense plans to purchase the network infrastructure of Sprint Nextel's iDEN network, a company spokesman says the carrier is 'committed' to iDEN. Sprint spokesman John Polivka tells Wireless Week that the report is a rumor. 'We do not comment on rumor and speculation,' he says. Polivka did offer, however, that Sprint Nextel is committed to the iDEN network and building it out."