The FCC intends to recharter the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) for a fifth two-year term (CSRIC V) when the council’s current term (CSRIC IV) ends March 18. CSRIC V may tackle 911 service, emergency alerts, mobile device security, national security communications resilience, and VoIP and broadband security, the FCC said Thursday. Nominations for CSRIC V are due March 31, the FCC said. CSRIC IV is to consider several final reports from its working groups at its March 18 meeting, including one from Working Group 4 on recommendations for communications sector cybersecurity best practices adapted in part from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework.
The FCC intends to recharter the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) for a fifth two-year term (CSRIC V) when the council’s current term (CSRIC IV) ends March 18. CSRIC V may tackle 911 service, emergency alerts, mobile device security, national security communications resilience, and VoIP and broadband security, the FCC said Thursday. Nominations for CSRIC V are due March 31, the FCC said. CSRIC IV is to consider several final reports from its working groups at its March 18 meeting, including one from Working Group 4 on recommendations for communications sector cybersecurity best practices adapted in part from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework.
Emergency communications, the IP transition and net neutrality are expected to be the main telecom issues discussed at NARUC’s meeting in Washington, state officials and industry observers told us. The meeting is to unofficially begin Friday and run through Wednesday, with Telecom Committee sessions to begin Monday. The Telecom Committee is considering two resolutions, including one that would urge the FCC to continue collaborating with state utility regulators on issues included in the commission’s November IP transition NPRM. The other telecom resolution would seek expedited FCC approval of a 2009 petition from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for state regulators to get state-specific access to the commission’s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) (see 1502050039).
Emergency communications, the IP transition and net neutrality are expected to be the main telecom issues discussed at NARUC’s meeting in Washington, state officials and industry observers told us. The meeting is to unofficially begin Friday and run through Wednesday, with Telecom Committee sessions to begin Monday. The Telecom Committee is considering two resolutions, including one that would urge the FCC to continue collaborating with state utility regulators on issues included in the commission’s November IP transition NPRM. The other telecom resolution would seek expedited FCC approval of a 2009 petition from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for state regulators to get state-specific access to the commission’s Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) (see 1502050039).
Washington, D.C.'s Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) Department will soon stop using encrypted channels on its public safety radios for most operations, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said Wednesday. “Starting in March, unencrypted channels will be used for all standard operations, while still maintaining encryption capabilities for events that contained sensitive communication,” City Administrator Rashad Young said in a news release. “These new protocols will ensure that DC FEMS can seamlessly communicate with their counterpart agencies from other jurisdictions while embracing encryption technology that will ensure the safety and security of residents and visitors during incidents deemed sensitive.” Bowser, a Democrat, began reviewing the change in December, before the start of her term, in response to concerns from fire chiefs in neighboring jurisdictions and other stakeholders that encryption might inhibit cross-agency communication. D.C. Firefighters Association President Ed Smith praised Bowser, in a statement, “for reversing a bad decision that was made by the prior administration.” Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, a Democrat, championed radio encryption in response to the fatal September 2013 shooting at the Washington Navy Yard military complex. FEMS and D.C.’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency have disputed claims by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials that encryption caused radio connectivity problems for first responders involved in the Jan. 12 rescue of passengers from a smoke-filled tunnel outside of WMATA’s L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail station. The National Transportation Safety Board is still examining the radio communication problems as part of its ongoing investigation of that incident, in which one person died and 84 others went to D.C.-area hospitals. The dispute prompted scrutiny from Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and other D.C.-area members of Congress (see 1501230066 and 1502030055). WMATA and area fire departments met Wednesday to begin formalizing a process for coordinating communication on changes to agencies’ radio systems in response to Warner’s concerns about a lack of sufficient coordination, a WMATA spokesman said.
The proposed requirement in the IP Transition rulemaking (see 1411210037) that providers supply at least eight hours of backup phone power in the case of power outages isn't enough, said the National Association of State 911 Administrators in comments posted Friday in docket 05-25. The requirement should be at least 24 hours, because “consumers in the midst of a power outage due to a natural disaster or other emergency will likely have urgent communication needs that may take time to accomplish,” NASNA said. When legacy copper landlines are being retired, consumers repeatedly should be made aware of the change before the switch, the group said. To get agency authorization to retire a service, providers should be required to show that a substitute service is available to customers that offers 911 capabilities consistent with the commission’s standards, NASNA said. It said public safety answering points should be given adequate notice of the retirement. If not, legacy PSAPs may be forced “to replace, upgrade or reconfigure their equipment with very little notice and before they are able or ready to do so,” the group said.
U.S. law enforcement and national security agencies requested customer information from Comcast 11,124 times between July 1 and Dec. 31, said the cable ISP's transparency report. Of those requests, 530 were emergencies “involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person,” and 8,208 of them were subpoenas, said the operator Thursday. "Before providing any information to the government, we make sure that the request is appropriately tailored and that our response accords with governing law."
U.S. law enforcement and national security agencies requested customer information from Comcast 11,124 times between July 1 and Dec. 31, Comcast said in a transparency report released Thursday. Of the requests, 530 were emergencies “involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person,” and 8,208 of them were subpoenas, the report said. "Before providing any information to the government, we make sure that the request is appropriately tailored and that our response accords with governing law,” Comcast said.
Spectrum will increasingly be shared in the next decade, said speakers at a spectrum conference Thursday sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, but frameworks for this type of sharing need to be established. Some questioned whether auctions are the best way to allocate spectrum or if they’re an outdated model.
The FCC gave “significant weight” to the road map by APCO, the National Emergency Number Association and four major carriers in approving rules for wireless indoor location accuracy, the FCC said in the order, posted on its website. “No single technological approach will solve the challenge of indoor location, and no solution can be implemented overnight,” the order said. “The requirements we adopt are technically feasible and technologically neutral, so that providers can choose the most effective solutions from a range of options.” The commissioners approved the order at their monthly meeting last week (see 1501290066).