Can CPUC do for cell service what it did for electricity?

Reports Explain Cell, Internet Failure Amid California Fires

"The reports from phone and internet companies, made available Tuesday, help explain why hundreds of thousands of people lost critical communications tools during Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s October blackouts."

Go, Go, Go Godzilla!

No End in Sight for FirstNet Interoperability Debate - Government Technology

"Although more than 9,800 U.S. agencies are now on board with the nationwide public safety communications platform FirstNet, debate persists about the very issue it is designed to solve: interoperability."

It'll be easy, they said. We got your technology right here, they said.

More Public-Safety Jurisdictions Jump into FirstNet Interoperability Debate

"Three more public-safety agencies jumped into the debate around interoperability and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) in recent FCC filings."

From the Mouths of Babes ...

The NTSB notes problems with merely buying stuff and writing plans.

"The National Transportation Safety Board is calling on [the Commonwealth of Massachusetts] to improve emergency communications following their investigation into the Merrimack Valley disaster last year.  ... 'Massachusetts does have a communications strategic plan for emergency responders. However this plan is only for the upgrading of the communication system. No guidance is provided on how to coordinate and implement a plan for emergency responders to effectively communicate during a multi-jurisdictional event.'"

Encouraging developments in the Caribbean:

U.S.-Caribbean Resilience Partnership

"Now, therefore, the United States and aforementioned nations of the Caribbean hereby launch the new “U.S.-Caribbean Resilience Partnership” to strengthen resilience within the Caribbean region on key issues of shared interest, and in furtherance thereof, intend as follow:

   "To streamline early warning response networks and formalize communication channels; ........."

Cyber threats prompt return of radio for ship navigation

Reuters: The risk of cyber attacks targeting ships' satellite navigation is pushing nations to delve back through history and develop back-up systems with roots in World War Two radio technology.

ETSI Readies Report on First MCPTT Plugtest

ETSI Readies Report on First MCPTT Plugtest

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in coming days plans to release a report summarizing results from the first mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT) Plugtests event held June 19 – 23. The report will follow preliminary data from the interoperability test sessions for mission-critical Long Term Evolution (LTE) equipment.

OODA in the Machine: Telecom discovers Col. John Boyd

ETSI Experiential Networked Intelligence group elects leaders during kick off meeting: "The purpose of the group is to define a Context Aware System using Artificial Intelligence (AI) based on the “observe-orient-decide-act” control model. This enables the system to adjust offered services based on changes in user needs, environmental conditions and business goals.

"Dr. Raymond Forbes explained: 'The purpose of the group is to improve operators' experience regarding network deployment and operation, by using AI techniques.' "

Deus ex Machina: AI, the Wizard Hat, and the Future of Humanity

And this in the Save Us From Ourselves Department -

Neuralink and the Brain's Magical Future - Wait But Why:
"Not only is Elon’s new venture—Neuralink—the same type of deal, but six weeks after first learning about the company, I’m convinced that it somehow manages to eclipse Tesla and SpaceX in both the boldness of its engineering undertaking and the grandeur of its mission. The other two companies aim to redefine what future humans will do—Neuralink wants to redefine what future humans will be."

Power to the Edge - Command...Control...in the Information Age

AN EDGE APPROACH TO INTEROPERABILITY

"An approach to interoperability with power to the edge characteristics promises to make interoperability a more tractable problem because the move to a post and smart pull approach frees us from the tyranny of [information exchange requirements]."

Public Safety Advocate: Opting In or Out? � ANDREWSEYBOLD.com

HELP WANTED:  More Andy Seybolds.



Public Safety Advocate: Opting In or Out? � ANDREWSEYBOLD.com

Metcalfe's Law is Wrong - IEEE Spectrum

Considerations in why shared systems in public safety communications are valuable - and why there may be limiting factors, including combining systems of unequal size.  Next stop:  SNR and value being drowned in the noise.



Metcalfe's Law is Wrong - IEEE Spectrum

Euro effort demos secure, interoperable communications -- Defense Systems

Euro effort demos secure, interoperable communications -- Defense Systems

Montana Highway Patrol helps county pay for unused, unwanted tower

Montana Highway Patrol helps county pay for unused, unwanted tower | The Glendive Ranger Review: Although they have not yet rid themselves of the communication tower near Fallon, Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Mary Jo Gehnert said Dawson County has found help paying the bills from Montana Highway Patrol. The tower was erected in 2007 on Bureau of Land Management land with Homeland Security funds from the Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program.
However, by 2011 Interoperability Montana was running out of administrative and operations funding and on June 30, 2011 IM dissolved. When IM dissolved, approximately $10 million in grant awards, projects and contracts were abandoned.
“When the IM project went defunct, all of the expenses fell back on to Dawson County,” Gehnert said.

Enhancing National Preparedness to Space-Weather Events | whitehouse.gov

Enhancing National Preparedness to Space-Weather Events | whitehouse.gov: The strategy plans to deal with communications operability and interoperability - "Ensure the capability and interoperability of communications systems during extreme space-weather events: Effective communications systems are essential to gaining and maintaining situational awareness and ensuring unity of effort in response and recovery operations. The effects of space weather on communications systems occur at different timescales and at varying degrees within a single event, depending on the system and the characteristics and duration of the event. Government and private-sector stakeholders need guidance that allows them to maintain communications capabilities (including interoperability) during an extreme space-weather event."

Philippines, Pacific militaries train in post-disaster communication | Headlines, News, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

Philippines, Pacific militaries train in post-disaster communication: Military representatives from 21 Asia-Pacific nations including the Philippines met in Manila to discuss how to restore communication channels destroyed in disaster situations.

The meeting, part of the United States-led Exercise Pacific Endeavor 2015, hosted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines provided an opportunity for the partner-nations to enhance communication interoperability and learn about the latest trends in satellite technology, broadband global access networks (BGAN) and mobile Internet capabilities.

Ethiopian, Djiboutian militaries broaden communication, intelligence system skills at CJTF-HOA | Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa

Ethiopian, Djiboutian militaries broaden communication, intelligence system skills at CJTF-HOA | Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa: Having a quick and effective means of communicating complex tasks is a critical component to any military force of sufficient size and complexity.

What began with runners conveying messages by foot to commanders in the field, and signalers waving flags to coordinate troop movements is now performed with sophisticated telecommunication systems and computers.

Aiding the military forces serving in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to effectively communicate is the U.S. Africa Command Data Sharing Network (ADSN). Recently, intelligence and communications personnel from the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and Djiboutian Armed Forces (FAD) visited Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa to work alongside U.S. intelligence and communication specialists here.

Cognitive Networked HF

The radio system bringing connectivity to the toughest environments in the world | ZDNet: The technology behind the system combines traditional high frequency (HF) terrestrial radio technology with modern cognitive and software-defined technologies. The latter is key, as it replaces typical hardware components (such as mixers and amplifiers) with software, enabling it to work even in the most demanding environments.

Homeland Security Today: DHS Needs to Improve Grant Guidance for Public Safety Communications Equipment, IG Says

Homeland Security Today: DHS Needs to Improve Grant Guidance for Public Safety Communications Equipment, IG Says: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) isn’t providing specific requirements in its grant guidance to grantees for acquiring interoperable emergency communications equipment, according to a new DHS Inspector General (IG) audit report.



Quack, quack, quack.  As if the quality of "interoperability" was readily observable.  SAFECOM grant guidance has been issued with each program for years.

Baltimore Wasn't Fully Prepared for Riot, Mayor Says

Baltimore Wasn't Fully Prepared for Riot, Mayor Says: The Baltimore Sun reported Monday that the emails and other documents show that communications within government broke down during the riots of April 27, as officials desperate for information exchanged rumors and subordinates questioned city leaders.

Homeland Security Today: Bill to Improve Interoperable Emergency Communications for First Responders Passed by House

Homeland Security Today: Bill to Improve Interoperable Emergency Communications for First Responders Passed by House: The State Wide Interoperable Communications Enhancement Act, or SWIC Enhancement Act (HR 2206), passed by the House would require states to have a Statewide Interoperability Coordinator (SWIC) or to delegate activities related to achieving interoperability to other individuals.

Homeland Security Today: NEW - Unlocking Interoperability: What It Means for Next-Generation Public Safety Communications

Homeland Security Today: NEW - Unlocking Interoperability: What It Means for Next-Generation Public Safety Communications - Robert Stack: You can’t go 60 seconds in a conversation about public safety communications without someone using the word “interoperability.” Plus, the number of interpretations—and misinterpretations—of what “interoperability" actually means is directly related to the number of participants in the conversation. That’s because “interoperability” means something different to the many facets in the industry.

Friendly Fire 'Kills' Allied Troops During NATO War Games in Germany / Sputnik International

Friendly Fire 'Kills' Allied Troops During NATO War Games in Germany / Sputnik International: "It's more than material. There are cognitive, procedural, and then technical aspects. We've got to all be on the same cognitive framework, we've got to have procedures on how to do things, and then there’s a technical solution."

Nontechnical Factors Determine Interoperability | SIGNAL Magazine

Nontechnical Factors Determine Interoperability | SIGNAL Magazine: Matching bytes and bandwidth is only the beginning for international coalitions.

Whither Interoperability?

With Friends in Government, Motorola Beats a Path to Telecom Supremacy: From the nation’s capital to the Pacific Coast, government officials have handed the company noncompetitive contracts, used modifications of years-old contracts to acquire new systems or crafted bid specifications to Motorola’s advantage. These officials, perhaps without recognizing their collective role, have helped stunt the very competition that’s needed to hold down prices and assure the most efficient use of government dollars.

FirstNet

FirstNet Moves Forward, But Hurdles Remain: The logic behind creating a nationwide broadband network for first responders is simple. Deploy a high-speed wireless communications system so that federal, state and local emergency response personnel can share data, do their jobs more efficiently and save more lives in the process.

Maximizing use of FirstNet network is critical to ongoing feasibility

Morgan O'Brien is arguably the smartest man existent when it comes to the wireless business.  He has also invested a considerable amount of money and time in planning for public safety broadband.

Maximizing use of FirstNet network is critical to ongoing feasibility: "FirstNet's first steps, as reflected in the reports and proposals from their Denver meeting in February, show just the blend of boldness and caution that this project demands. This is shaping up to be much more than a "glass half-full." Give credit to NTIA and the strong, diverse team of players they have recruited to undertake this task of unprecedented scale and complexity."

Defense News

$7 Billion Disconnect: FirstNet Aims to Get First Responders Talking 12 Years After 9/11: After 11 years and billions of homeland-security dollars spent since 9/11, Winchester’s plight remains maddeningly common. With radio systems set up town by town, county by county and state by state — sometimes even department by department — America’s police and fire departments are still awash in a sea of networks and frequencies that often can’t communicate with each other.

Las Vegas Metro PD Radio System

Las Vegas police dump problem radio system: On Oct. 11, Gillespie informed the CEO of the Harris Corp. that his company's Desert Sky radio system cannot meet his department's needs. That's a sharp change from past statements and advice to officers to remain patient while system bugs are fixed.

Pentagon shutters Joint Tactical Radio System program office - Nextgov.com

Pentagon shutters Joint Tactical Radio System program office: After struggling for 15 years to develop a software-based radio for all four services at a cost of $15 billion, the Pentagon quietly shut down the Joint Tactical Radio System program office earlier this month and transferred its acquisition functions to the Army.

FCC Puts Local Public-Safety Networks on Hold - WSJ.com

FCC Puts Local Public-Safety Networks on Hold (subscription): Federal regulators affirmed Tuesday that most cities and states planning to start wireless broadband networks for police and other first responders must wait until a new national public-safety network is operational.

How Obama's visit showed Oakland radios' unreliability

How Obama's visit showed Oakland radios' unreliability: This city's year-old $18 million police radio system failed repeatedly during President Barack Obama's visit to Oakland on Monday and during protests surrounding it.

The FirstNet Board of Directors - Andy Seybold

The FirstNet Board of Directors: These people must be recruited from within the wireless industry, preferably from among those who have “already been there and already done that.” In order to attract the quality of people needed, I believe their compensation level will have to be well beyond Federal Executive Level 4. As an independent authority, FirstNet employees should not report to the NTIA, they should report to the FirstNet board.

Competition Worries Snag Verizon Deal - WSJ.com

Competition Worries Snag Verizon Deal: The Justice Department is holding up Verizon Wireless's $3.9 billion deal to acquire cable-company airwaves over concerns a related agreement will hurt competition for broadband Internet service, according to people familiar with the matter.

Remember to Feed the Elephants - David Kahn

Elephant #4 - Public Safety needs an applications interoperability platform: Public-safety communications professionals are excited about the federal legislation enacted in February — and with good reason. The new law grants the 700 MHz spectrum known as the D Block to public safety and provides $7 billion in initial funding for a nationwide broadband voice and data communications network.

Earlier this year I attended NIST’s 700 MHz Public Safety Broadband Demonstration Stakeholders Meeting, where very smart people presented their visions for the national LTE/4G network. However there seemed to be a few elephants in the room that largely were ignored, as follows.

BTOP Grants for Public Safety Slowed

Strickling Defends Stand-Down of Public Safety Net Projects: National Telecommunications Information Administration chief Larry Strickling found himself defending the agency's decision last week to put a partial hold on seven broadband public safety network projects, including ones funded through broadband grants.

At a House Communications Subcommittee Hearing on NTIA's and the Rural Utilities Service broadband grants under the Farm Bill and Recovery Act, Strickling was hit with questions from Republican legislators from states -- Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas -- whose projects had gotten the word to stand down, at least until NTIA vets them against plans for a national interoperable broadband public safety network, now being dubbed FirstNet, which NTIA is helping oversee.

Emergency services getting a static-free slice of broadband

Canadian emergency services getting a static-free slice of broadband: Police officers, firefighters and paramedics across [Canada] soon will be able to communicate with each other using a broadband network dedicated to emergency services.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced Thursday the allocation of 10 MHz of the highly coveted 700 MHz broadband spectrum for use by emergency service providers.

How Verizon Wireless May Kill Hope for LTE Interoperability - Businessweek

How Verizon Wireless May Kill Hope for LTE Interoperability - Businessweek: The technology wars were supposed to be over. The global adoption of LTE as a common 4G technology was going to heal the rift between the CDMA and GSM camps and give U.S. consumers more freedom to switch between carriers, as well as the ability to choose from a set of common devices that could work on any network. Well, forget it. Verizon Wireless’s planned sale of its extra LTE spectrum pretty much quashes that dream.

Instead of coalescing around mutually exclusive technologies, U.S. carriers are now coalescing around mutually exclusive spectrum bands. The result is the same: A Verizon LTE phone won’t work on an AT&T (T) LTE network and vice-versa.

New York City CTO resigns over public safety wireless network debacle | MuniWireless: WiFi, LTE, 4G

New York City CTO resigns over public safety wireless network debacle: The NYC Wireless Network (NYCWiN) launched in 2008, more than four years after the RFP was issued, and many had high hopes for the network, which was to be dedicated to one use: public safety. The users of the network were to be the NY Police Department and the NY Fire Department.

FCC staff: A broadband baseline is needed - FCC staff offered their assessment of interoperability issues under consideration with public safety broadband prior to passage of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Spectrum Act).

Public Safety Broadband: Measuring Success � ANDREWSEYBOLD.com

Public Safety Broadband: Measuring Success � ANDREWSEYBOLD.com: Now that the 700 MHz D-Block has been reallocated to Public Safety to provide 20 MHz (10X10 MHz) of total nationwide broadband spectrum, funding, and a new governance organization, how do we measure the success of this new network? I believe it is important to be able to provide both those who doubt its viability and those who might be interested in forming public/private partnerships with a way to measure the level of success as the network is built and put into operation.

700 MHz public-safety LTE network won't break ground for a year - FierceBroadbandWireless

700 MHz public-safety LTE network won't break ground for a year - FierceBroadbandWireless: Construction on the public-safety LTE network planned for 700 MHz D-block spectrum will likely not begin for at least a year because the government must first accomplish considerable planning and setup work.

FirstNet, the authority charged with managing the public-safety network, must be established by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) by Aug. 20. Once FirstNet's 15-member board is set up, it will begin addressing a host of formative tasks, including releasing a request for proposal (RFP) for construction of the nationwide network, which it can only do after it consults with representatives of each state, according to an article in Urgent Communications. The publication quoted Anna Gomez, NTIA's deputy assistant secretary, as saying this RFP process is going to take several months to complete once it is initiated.

D-Block network won't be available for first responders for a while - Tony Romm - POLITICO.com

D-Block network won't be available for first responders for a while - POLITICO.com: 
It took years for lawmakers to approve a wireless broadband network for police officers and firefighters.
And it’ll be a few more years, at least, before that system is available to first responders nationwide. With new resources from Congress in hand, regulators and public safety agencies are just now beginning to translate their vision for an upgraded communications system into reality. How they meet a series of tough benchmarks over the next six months will be critical to the success or failure of the long-sought network.

In the process, regulators seem poised to grapple with the likelihood that a nationwide public safety broadband system could prove more costly than Congress imagined, and just as difficult and expensive to build and operate as critics have suggested.

DHS wants to ride commercial wave for interoperable radio network - FederalNewsRadio.com: "We have this wave of commercial capability that is outstripping everything we've done in our traditional land mobile radio capability," said Richard Spires, DHS chief information officer, Friday during a breakfast sponsored by AFCEA Bethesda in Bethesda, Md. "How is that we can, as a government, start to leverage that capability? I don't want to be in the business of building towers. We just don't want to do that anymore. We are not that good at that. We are not a telecommunications provider. That is not our expertise. We want to buy these capabilities as services."

Homeland Security Today: Despite Funding of Public Safety Broadband Network, Technical Challenges May Keep First Responders from Using it For a Decade: President Barack Obama signed legislation Wednesday to fund a nationwide interoperable broadband communications network for US first responders, but congressional investigators warned the same day that it could take a decade for the network to materialize as envisioned.

Public safety gets its D Block wish, doesn't have to return narrowband spectrum -- Urgent Communications: Over the past eight years, there have been three all-consuming stories that we have covered: the reconfiguration of the 800 MHz band, the narrowbanding of spectrum in the UHF band, and public safety’s pursuit of spectrum in the 700 MHz band — the so-called D Block — that would provide the foundation for a nationwide wireless broadband network. Today, as Senior Writer Donny Jackson reports, Congress has struck a deal to make that network possible by reallocating the D Block to public safety and committing $7 billion of federal money to build it.

Obama's Next Solyndra-Style Scandal Is Called "LA-RICS" - Forbes: "Remember those 'shovel ready' jobs that President Obama promised the $700 billion stimulus bill would create? Almost four years and more than $250 million in federal grants later, they still haven’t arrived in Los Angeles.

"Meanwhile, life-saving improvements to the police, fire and other local government communications systems have been delayed–putting the more than 9 million residents of Los Angeles County at risk.'

Why public shouldn't return narrowband spectrum in D Block deal: We are fast approaching the sixth anniversary of Morgan O’Brien’s pronouncement — made during his keynote address at IWCE — that not only should a wireless broadband network for first responders be deployed, it also was feasible. There were a great many skeptics at the time who posed a slew of legitimate questions.

Will DOJ Tech Project Die After 10 Years?: A secure, interoperable radio network that the Department of Justice has been working on for more than a decade and that has cost the agency $356 million may be headed for failure, according to a new report by the agency's inspector general.

According to the report, inadequate funding, frequent revisions to DOJ's plans, and poor coordination threaten the success of the Integrated Wireless Network (IWS) and could leave the agency with obsolete radio equipment that doesn't communicate well with other radio systems, which could in turn pose a threat to public safety.

FCC sees support for incentive auctions of wireless spectrum - chicagotribune.com: Julius Genachowski, the top U.S. telecommunications regulator, said on Wednesday that he has received bi-partisan support from a group of U.S. senators for so-called "incentive" auctions of wireless spectrum without legislative restrictions.

Genachowski, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, is looking for approval to give broadcasters a financial incentive to return unused spectrum licenses to the FCC so it can then auction off the spectrum to companies offering mobile data services.

Bay Area cities prepare for key vote on public-safety LTE -- Urgent Communications: Representatives of governmental entities in the San Francisco Bay Area are scheduled to vote next Thursday to decide whether their public-safety agencies will participate in the deployment and operation of a much-anticipated LTE network for the region’s first responders that would be built by Motorola Solutions.

Members of the Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications System (BayRICS) Authority next Thursday are expected to vote on the project, which likely will be smaller than originally envisioned. Proposed as 193-site LTE system, most discussions during last week’s BayRICS Authority meeting called for the number of sites to be reduced by at least 25% and that the public-access component of the proposal may be scrapped.

Verizon blames “growing pains” for LTE 4G outages | VentureBeat: Verizon Wireless may be paying the price for being the first carrier in the world to widely roll out LTE 4G technology.

The carrier has pointed to the relative immaturity of LTE as the reason for its 4G service outages throughout 2011, reports GigaOm, who chatted with Verizon VP of network engineering Mike Haberman yesterday.

Homeland Security gets more cyber funding, less for science research -- Federal Computer Week: Southwestern border technology, scientific research programs and grants for state and local first responders are losing support in the Homeland Security Department’s final budget for fiscal 2012 approved by Congress. Meanwhile, cybersecurity and biosurveillance systems are among the programs gaining expanded funding.

Once upon a time in a land far, far away... | Daryl Jones' Weblog: Once upon a time in the land of Far-Far-Away in the State of Insolvent there were some chiefs from Bewildered County. They had an old-fashioned stupid plain vanilla analog radio system that worked perfectly two thirds of the time, but the other third of the time their radios had a little static.

Even though it almost never-ever failed completely it just wasn’t rosy and perfect. They could still talk to all their neighbors (who had old-fashioned stupid plain vanilla analog radio systems too), but not directly to the Big Department in Crooked County hundreds of miles away, or to the Inspectors from the State of Insolvent or the Men from Far-Far-Away. And most importantly, it just wasn’t shiny and NEW. .....

Communications upgrade for first responders - Washington Times: Congress must decide between a fiscally irresponsible 20th-century model of dedicated, expensive public-safety networks that become rapidly obsolete or a 21st-century model of cost-effective public-private, shared infrastructure. Our country can afford neither billions of dollars to build and operate a new dedicated public-safety network nor the reallocation of commercial spectrum to dedicated public-safety use when a far more cost-effective path forward is available.

Consumers Energy: interoperability, in-house and out | Intelligent Utility: In-house, Gillmore [director of enterprise architecture and standards and chief architect] explained, "guiding principle number one is loosely coupled, layered architectures. You should be able to change layers out without breaking the upper stack. We've taken those principles into our architectural smart grid approach for interoperability. Loosely coupled and layered architecture allows electric meters to be agnostic of the underlying communications technology. Our selected technology allows us to use any of the nation's major wireless carriers. This approach also allows us to use any electric meter technology, as appropriate."

In the 'It Should Be So Easy Department', Biden Breathlessly Claims Broadband Wireless is a Replacement for LMR : "Instead of the old radios they use now, first responders will communicate with devices that will also let them transmit video, images and data. Firefighters will be able to download building schematics onto their devices to find the best routes to safety. A police officer will be able to quickly determine if the car in the traffic stop is stolen or if the driver has an outstanding warrant. EMTs will be able to transmit pictures from an accident scene ahead to doctors in the emergency room. Lives will, quite simply, be saved."

Big Money for Public Safety Broadband?: "WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will today detail his plan to win the future by catalyzing the buildout of high-speed wireless services that will enable businesses to grow faster, students to learn more, and public safety officials to access state-of-the-art, secure, nationwide, and interoperable mobile communications."

Mesmerized by Technology Department: "Hoping to solve problems fingered by a 9/11 commission, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted a Third Report and Order (Order) and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) drafted to advance communications interoperability for U.S. first responders."

Critical Stewardship

A friend recently wondered why so many large radio projects for public safety are on the skids. The answer is many-faceted, but the common characteristic of successful projects is simple: Critical stewardship.

Fiscal discipline is the heart of critical stewardship. Stewards include not only the users of such systems, but elected representatives and, ultimately, the public that pays for them. Costs - all costs - are examined from the beginning. Sources of funding are closely examined, with conservative assumptions taken with fiscal questions. Funding is assumed to come directly from the affected jurisdictions rather than taxpayers in others who are already paying for their own needs. Cautious practicality serves best, avoiding emotional appeals and purveyors of glittering generalities.

The simple question can be asked, "Is this sustainable?" Sustainability includes operation, maintenance, and life cycle replacement of systems. If those costs, alone, are prohibitive, some other "solution" is in order. The features and promised benefits may be attractive, but "Field of Dreams" projects are generally irresponsible - unless they are funded by individuals, companies, or directly-accountable officials who will bear the costs if failure befalls.

Emergency Support Function #2 - The United States' National Response Framework (NRF) defines a series of emergency support functions or ESFs. The second of these is communications. According to the NRF, "[c]ommunications supports the restoration of the communications infrastructure, facilitates the recovery of systems and applications from cyber attacks, and coordinates Federal communications support to response efforts during incidents requiring a coordinated Federal response." The National Communications System, part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), coordinates doctrine and implementation of ESF #2. It also has the primary Federal responsibility for support of restoration of common carrier capabilities following disasters, while the DHS Federal Emergency Management Agency has primary Federal responsibility for assisting restoration of public safety communications capabilities.

While ESF #2 activations outside of major emergencies or disasters are rare, the concept of ESFs is useful in discussing the functional centers of necessary capabilities and support during emergencies.

All-Hazards ICS COML Website - The website linked here provides official information on the all-hazards Communications Leader (COML) position under the Incident Command System (ICS) of the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) developed the training and conducted a series of classes nationwide that had over 2,000 participants. There is an unofficial Yahoo Group where many ongoing questions are asked and answered by practitioners.

All-Hazards ICS Communications Unit Leader (COML) - The State of Tennessee has been a leader in using the Incident Command System (ICS) to improve communications during emergencies. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has adopted standardized training for all-hazards ICS Communications Unit Leaders (COMLs) and procedures for credentialing at three levels, starting at the local level. There's even a Yahoo group for Tennessee COMLs.

Combined with ongoing support of state officials, these steps make Tennessee one of the best prepared states in the nation to assure response-level emergency communications needs are met.

Communications Technician (COMT) Training Courses: "Communications Technician (COMT) Training Courses" - All-hazards ICS Communications Technician training is ramping up. This week-long course, developed by the DHS Office of Emergency Communications, is designed to provide individuals who will serve in the role of a COMT during incident response with skills and resources. This is the official, all-hazards training for the ICS position.

Debate heats up on the Hill over sale of public safety spectrum - Nextgov:

Does the country need to allocate more scare spectrum so people can use their iPhones at max speed everywhere, or should it be reserved for public safety communications?"

FCC reveals more details about public-safety network plans: "An FCC official revealed more details about how the nationwide public-safety mobile broadband network will come to fruition. Jamie Barnett, chief of the FCC's public safety and homeland security bureau, indicated the FCC plans to establish an interoperability center and rule on individual 700 MHz broadband waiver requests by mid-summer. The commission is also looking to prepare for a D Block auction next year and lobby Congress to fund the rollout of the public-safety network."

Channelized Communications - Andrew Seybold: "The Following is a copy of an email I sent to FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell. I have reprinted it below because it helps to explain why channelized communications systems are and will continue to be needed by first responder and other two-way radio (Land Mobile Radio) systems for years to come. This is one of the most difficult subjects to explain to someone whose only experience with wireless is the use of a cell phone for voice and other services. Today’s cell phone systems, and those being built out as next-generation systems are not capable of providing the types of services discussed below."

Werner on Virtual USA - podcast: "The nation's ability to share information seamlessly across localities, states and regions still is limited. To address the problem, the DHS Science and Technology Directorate's Command, Control and Interoperability Division — assisted by the First Responder Technologies program — created Virtual USA."

FCC unveils plan for public safety network: "Federal efforts to create interoperable first-responder communications could receive a boost with an FCC plan to spend between $12 million and $16 million on a nationwide interoperable public safety wireless broadband network.

James Barnett, head of the FCC's public safety and homeland security bureau, wrote about FCC plans Wednesday in a blog post.

'Our central recommendation is the creation of a nationwide interoperable public safety broadband wireless network through incentive-based partnerships between public safety agencies and the partner of their choice,' he wrote. His plan 'also recommends that the FCC create an Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC) to ensure a baseline of operability and interoperability for the network nationwide.'"

FCC plan calls for 'minimal' public safety fee for all broadband users: "The FCC's National Broadband Plan, released today, calls for a new 'minimal' fee on all U.S. broadband users to help pay for a new $16 billion nationwide emergency response wireless network.

Public safety officials have pleaded for such an interoperable network to aid their response to disasters and potential attacks since firefighters and police could not communicate effectively during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the response following Hurricane Katrina."

DHS Announces New Interoperability Grants for Border States: "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) launched the Border Interoperability Demonstration Project (BIDP), a competitive demonstration grant program designed to identify innovative solutions to emergency communications challenges along and across the border. Applications are due April 26."

FCC talks National Broadband: "It's just over two weeks until the FCC presents its National Broadband Plan (March 16th), but already, the regulator has started slipping out details of the plan, including a promise to find 500MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband and a request for Congress to cough up $16bn for a public-safety network to be integrated with priority access to commercial networks."

FCC to Recommend $16B in Grant Funding for 700 MHz Broadband Network : "Although the FCC will recommend moving forward with a D block auction, it will also recommend that Congress consider significant public funding — $12 billion to $16 billion over 10 years — for a federal grant program to help support network construction and operation and maintenance of a 700 MHz pubic-safety broadband network. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski released the public-safety national broadband plan details at a briefing Thursday.

The FCC’s recommendations include creation of an approximately $6 billion federal grant program to help support network construction and additional funding for operation of the broadband network. About $6 billion of the grant program would support capital costs of the public-safety network over 10 years. Another $6 billion to $10 billion program would cover operation of the network over 10 years and to upgrade the network as technology advances."

DHS trains 1,600 first responders for multi-jurisdictional incidents: "More than 1,600 first responders have completed the All-Hazards Type-III Communications Unit Leader (COML)training course, a program designed to improve multi-jurisdictional coordination among first responders at an incident, said Chris Essid, director of Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Emergency Communications (OEC).

As part of the National Emergency Communications Plan, the OEC offered 66 COML training courses nationwide to help public-safety professionals more effectively lead and coordinate communications during emergencies and large-scale events. Multi-jurisdictional events around the nation have demonstrated the benefits of consistent planning, training and operating procedures, Essid said. In fact, it was the emergency-response community that identified the need for COML training and helped DHS create the formal training program by building on the successful wildfire-scenario model."

D.C. picked as site for urban 700 MHz public-safety demonstration: "Washington, D.C., will be the location of a 700 MHz broadband demonstration network that is designed to test the public-safety capabilities that a wireless broadband network could bring to first responders in urban areas.

The D.C. testbed is the second such network to be announced by Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR), which previously said it would conduct similar tests for rural areas at its facilities outside of Boulder, Colo. The D.C. demonstration will use the same tower infrastructure that was deployed for the district’s now-defunct 700 MHz 3G wireless system for public safety, said Bryan Spivak, with district’s chief technology officer."

Critical Calls: "... 'Technology investments go on, but without a concept of operations to act as a guide, they go on with no end,' says [Mark Borkowski, executive director for DHS' Secure Border Initiative], adding that such projects must have clear objectives."

"What are the primary functions of the system? Who are the users and stakeholders? How do they operate both under normal circumstances as well as in exceptional situations? Will users be able to turn on interoperability when they need it, and turn it off when they don't? The answers to these questions are crucial to developing any wireless communications system."

Washington, D.C., Partners with Feds to Test 4G Technology for National Public Safety Network: "At the end of 2009, the world of fourth-generation (4G) mobile telecommunications technology got a boost when a Swedish telecom operator deployed the first-ever commercial long-term evolution (LTE) services in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway.

This is critical because even though the company, TeliaSonera, launched the network for commercial purposes, U.S. public safety agencies support LTE technology for a proposed nationwide public safety network on the 700 MHz radio band."

Avoiding Another Generation of Lost Interoperability: "If the National Broadband Plan being developed by the Federal Communications Commission isn’t on your radar screen, you’re hardly alone. But a lot is at stake in getting this thing right, and we need to start paying attention to it or risk squandering a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dramatically improve our public safety and security."

Demonstration Network Planned for Public Safety 700 MHz Broadband: "The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have announced plans to create a demonstration broadband communications network for the nation’s emergency services agencies using a portion of the radiofrequency spectrum freed up by the recent transition of U.S. broadcast television from analog to digital technologies. The new system will provide a common demonstration site for manufacturers, carriers, and public safety agencies to test and evaluate advanced broadband communications equipment and software tailored specifically to the needs of emergency first responders."

When interoperability and security collide: "Opening up transmissions between agencies is at the core of interoperable communications, but with that openness comes an increased need for security.

This seeming paradox was made all too clear on September 11th, 2009.

As the Coast Guard held a training exercise on the Potomac near the Pentagon, CNN's police scanner picked up transmissions from the exercise.

CNN then reported 10 shots had been fired on a suspicious vessel. Fox News also reported the shots."

Nationwide public safety broadband network encounters funding problems: "Eight years after the 9/11 attacks and four years after the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, ensuring that first responders have interoperable communications when reacting to such disasters remains a priority for policy-makers at the local, state and national levels.

While the deployment of narrowband systems at 700 MHz — the recently cleared band upon which federal policy-makers have pinned many of their public-safety communications hopes — continues in the piecemeal fashion long familiar to public safety, efforts to create a national broadband network for the first-response community have yielded little tangible progress. The well-chronicled failure of the 700 MHz auction to attract a commercial D Block bidder willing to work with public safety in a public/private partnership has been followed by two years of spirited debate and considerable legwork, but no clear course of action has been chosen by Congress or the FCC."

Pieces of homeland security puzzle assembled in new Purdue center: "A group of researchers at a new Purdue University visual data center knows that knowledge might be power, but how it's filtered is what really counts. Purdue on Monday celebrated the inception of the national center, dubbed VACCINE or Visual Analytics for Command, Control and Interoperability Environments. The center, funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is a collaboration among 16 universities, including Purdue, where it's headquartered.

'It aims to provide comprehensive visual depictions -- such as graphics, maps and simulations -- of data needed to help law enforcement and emergency responders across the country function better,' said director David Ebert."

FCC Mulls Broadband Network for Public Safety: "So much of the government's recent attention to broadband networks has focused on the networks used by consumers, but in the backdrop of that heavily-lobbied debate are policymakers' concerns over the use of broadband to improve public safety.

But with a thicket of state, local and tribal jurisdictions with widely varying needs and budgets, the goal of a nationwide, interoperable broadband-enabled communications network has remained elusive."

DHS opens national cybersecurity operations center: "The Homeland Security Department opened a new operations center today that integrates national cybersecurity and telecommunications monitoring systems and provides a new degree of situational awareness surrounding the nation’s communications, information technology and cyber infrastructure.

The new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), combines two of DHS’ operational organizations: the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), which leads a public-private partnership focused on defending the nation’s cyber infrastructure; and the National Coordinating Center for Telecommunications (NCC), the operational arm of the National Communications System."

Plain Talk Eases Police Radio Codes Off The Air: "Police radio can sound like an algebra class, with all those 10-4s and 187s.

But more and more departments are trying a radical approach: asking officers who need backup or want to report a robbery to do so in plain old English.

Late one night in 2005, a police officer on a dark highway in Independence, Mo., radioed in that he had just passed a State Highway Patrol officer's car on the side of a road with the door open."

Oversight Missing for Oregon's Emergency Radio Network: "A new report to lawmakers says Oregon lacks the necessary oversight on a $414 million project to build a massive emergency radio network.

The report from the Legislature's budget committee says those building the Oregon Wireless Interoperability Network don't have the staff and controls in place to adequately manage such a large-scale construction and technology project.

State officials running the project say everything is under control and on schedule."

Illinois MABAS shows true interoperability: "Communications is only one slice of the interoperability pie. In fact, although interoperable communication systems are an essential tool during an incident, preplanning strategies and tactics are crucial to safeguarding lives.

One of the most common ways to preplan incidents is through the National Incident Management System. The government argued that NIMS was needed to create interoperable common-operational pictures across different state and local agencies. And, many in public-safety stand behind it, like Leonard Carmichael Jr., a fire captain in Trenton, N.J. Carmichael said he strongly believes NIMS provides a systematic, proactive approach that can guide agencies at all levels of government to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of incidents."

Lawmakers Acknowledge Need for General Funds to Build Public-Safety Network: "Congressional members of the House subcommittee on communications, technology and the Internet heard views from the public-safety community and commercial carriers on the best option for the 700 MHz D block spectrum Thursday, with several lawmakers noting general funds might be the only way to ensure buildout of a nationwide public-safety broadband network."

Baltimore Co. begins $57 million public safety radio network overhaul: "Baltimore County is upgrading their outdated public safety radio transmission network. And last week, Governor Martin O’Malley and County Executive Jim Smith hailed the construction of a new radio tower as the first step towards the $57 million project completion.

“This three-year project will further improve our first responders’ ability to communicate with each other, with relevant County agencies as well as with our partners at the state and throughout the region,” Smith said in a statement.

The new interoperable network will upgrade the existing analog network to digital, improving the ability to use encryption and secure transmission and increasing the radio network’s coverage area. Baltimore County Police and Fire Department use over 6,000 two-way radios, which will either be replaced, or be outfitted with enhanced software that accepts digital transmissions benefit from the enhanced network and they will work in conjunction with the Department of Public Works by folding the DPW channel frequency into the new public safety network"

U.S. and Mexico talk safety across the fence: "The United States and Mexico will establish a new cross-border communications network including voice, data and video channels to support their law enforcement and public safety agencies, officials announced.

The Homeland Security Department and the Secretariat of Public Security of Mexico will coordinate the installation and operation of the network, according to DHS. DHS, the State department and Mexican officials signed the agreement, which also provides for joint protection from radio interference and jamming.

The goal is to create an interoperable network that will be linked to federal, state, local and tribal safety networks for the purpose of public safety and law enforcement."

Public safety communications still a work in progress, Chertoff says: "Eight years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, there has been significant progress made toward improving first-responder communications, but there is still a lot of distance to cover, former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff told public safety officials today.

Increased funding to state and local governments, advances in radio technology and the release of the Homeland Security Department’s National Emergency Communications Plan, which outlines a strategy to improve public safety communications throughout the nation, have all contributed to more effective communications among various jurisdictions, Chertoff said."

ELF Claims Responsibility For Radio Tower Sabotage: "An environmental extremist group has claimed responsibility for toppling two towers owned by a sports radio station near Snohomish. The Earth Liberation Front group took responsibility for the act on its Web site Friday. The towers were brought down with a trackhoe."

ELF Claims Responsibility For Radio Tower Sabotage - Seattle News Story - KIRO Seattle

ELF Claims Responsibility For Radio Tower Sabotage: "An environmental extremist group has claimed responsibility for toppling two towers owned by a sports radio station near Snohomish. The Earth Liberation Front group took responsibility for the act on its Web site Friday. The towers were brought down with a trackhoe."

Former DHS secretary Ridge discusses critical issues facing public safety: "What role do interoperable communications play?
That’s a really sensitive point with me there. I am very disappointed that one of the most important recommendations from the 9/11 Commission Report, sanctioned by Congress, before which I testified and around which many great recommendations were made … that the very high priority they gave to a public-safety interoperable communications systems continues to be ignored.

Right now, we have patchwork, a piecemeal of technologies. At the end of the day, what this country needs, what the first responders deserve, what citizens should demand is that there’s a public safety broadband interoperable communication system built. … I can’t imagine that there’s one first responder who disagrees with me."

More Support Required to Fill Emergency Communication Gaps: "Limitations in communications for first responders rushing to a large-scale disaster, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks or Hurricane Katrina, continue to linger due in part to delays in the establishment of a federal emergency communications center, which would provide assistance in overcoming those obstacles, congressional investigators said Monday.

Federal agencies have worked to help equip local first responders to react to catastrophic events that could overwhelm their communications capacities, but limitations in collaboration and monitoring threaten to minimize federal contributions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded in a report titled 'Emergency Communications: Vulnerabilities Remain and Limited Collaboration and Monitoring Hamper Federal Efforts.'"

Proposed alerting system sounds promising | Commercial Mobile Alert Service: "While considerable focus has been put on the need for better communications within the first-responder community, communications with the public being served and protected also needs considerable attention. In an increasingly mobile society, traditional alerting tools like the emergency broadcast system may not get the message to the growing number of people who rely almost solely on a handheld device to stay in touch with the world."

US, Britain testing new ways to coordinate battlefield communications and track combat troops: "British military officials are testing new technologies that they say will make operations with the United States and other coalition partners more efficient and responsive to threats.

More important, British officials say, they will be able to give a better accounting of troop locations on the battlefield, making for quicker action and avoiding friendly-fire incidents.

Brig. David Cullen, commander of the British 12th Mechanized Regiment, said this week that closing gaps between British and American systems is critical, especially given the complex operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Combat units need to exchange critical information, such as the location of improvised explosive devices, those roadside bombs that have become the insurgent's weapon of choice."

First-responder Communications Remain Vulnerable: "It will take more than the spectrum freed up by the DTV transition to fix the nation’s fractured first-responder communication systems. In a report to a Senate Commerce subcommittee, the Government Accountability Office provided a list of vulnerabilities, including antiquated phone lines, incompatibility between jurisdictions and facilities that won’t hold up under natural disasters.



“Continuity of communications, capacity, and interoperability are the primary areas of vulnerability in emergency communications that persist in communities across the country,” the report, based on six case studies, stated. 
"

Schools Find Role in National Emergency Communications Plan: "A school district in Colorado launched a new two-way radio training program for all school staff on Monday, and became the first in the nation to formally align its school safety plans with the Department of Homeland Security's vision for interoperable radio communications to improve coordination among agencies responding to emergencies.

At the all-day inaugural training workshop, Pueblo County School District 70 (D70) school principals learned how to effectively use two-way radio communications according to the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) and the Incident Command System (ICS)."