A Chinese national pleaded guilty Aug. 19 to attempting to illegally export large quantities of aerospace grade carbon fiber to China in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York said. Ming Suan Zhang, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, was arrested after trying to acquire a sample of the carbon fiber, which a news release described as a “high-tech material used frequently in the military, defense and aerospace industries.” The carbon fiber could be detrimental to U.S. foreign policy or national security, and is closely regulated by the Department of Commerce “to combat nuclear proliferation and terrorism,” the release said.
911 call takers need better training, said Nathan Lee, president of the Denise Amber Lee Foundation, at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials meeting in Anaheim, Calif. He has pushed for more training since 2008 and tackled the problem on a state-by-state basis, he told us, saying foundation representatives have traveled to nearly 30 states. He lobbied to get a voluntary training bill enacted in Florida in 2008, which Florida then kicked up to a 232-hour mandatory training curriculum two years later, he said. Florida telecommunicators now must pass a state certification test to “raise them to the level of professionalism they deserve to be already,” he said. Lee’s nonprofit typically tries to advocate for its policies at both APCO and the National Emergency Number Association meetings. Arkansas also has a voluntary standard instituted by a foundation push, Michigan passed legislation and the foundation is working “diligently” with Illinois to get a mandatory standard enacted in that state, Lee said. He also said there’s some interest in Missouri. The biggest obstacles tend to involve money, he said, adding that education and awareness are also occasionally concerns. Quality assurance is another important dimension to ensuring 911 functions well, he said. He started the foundation after his wife was murdered; a 911 call failed to save her life.
Dish Network Chairman Charlie Ergen appears to be putting together a plan to pair some of the S-band spectrum that Dish already owns with LightSquared L-band spectrum, for a 40 MHz national network that would make Dish a big player in the wireless industry, industry sources said Wednesday. Industry officials who attended the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum this week said they had heard from others there that the plan had been hatched and was moving forward. Dish representatives have already been at the FCC to discuss using the S-band for downlink, agency officials said Wednesday.
Dish Network Chairman Charles Ergen appears to be putting together a plan to pair some of the S-band spectrum that Dish already owns with LightSquared L-band spectrum, for a 40 MHz national network that would make Dish a big player in the wireless industry, industry sources said Wednesday. Industry officials who attended the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum this week said they had heard from others there that the plan had been hatched and was moving forward. Dish representatives have already been at the FCC to discuss using the S-band for downlink, agency officials said Wednesday.
Europe’s 79 major e-communications outage incidents in 2012 hit mobile telephony and Internet users the hardest, the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) said in a report published Monday (http://bit.ly/14S5Imv). It analyzed data on outages reported by national regulators and reached several conclusions, including: (1) About 50 percent of the incidents affected mobile telephony or Internet, and the average outage hit around 1.8 million users, which is consistent with the high penetration rate of mobile services; (2) In over a third of the failures, the pan-EU emergency number 112 was affected. (3) The most common cause of the incidents was system failure resulting from such things as hardware failures and software bugs; (4) Incidents categorized as having resulted from third-party failures mostly involved power supply glitches; (5) Natural phenomena such as storms and heavy snowfall caused the longest-lasting outages; (6) Overload followed by power failure had the biggest impact in terms of number of users times duration; (7) Overall, switches and home location registers were the network components most affected by incidents. ENISA said it will discuss specific outages in more detail with national regulators and, if needed, agree on mitigating measures.
Former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth warned that the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee’s examination of spectrum sharing between commercial and federal users in the 1755-1850 MHz band leaves many questions unanswered. Comments by Furchtgott-Roth, a CSMAC member, were posted by NTIA this week, as CSMAC gears up for a major meeting next Wednesday to complete action on sharing reports that have been its focus for more than a year.
Europe’s 79 major e-communications outage incidents in 2012 hit mobile telephony and Internet users the hardest, the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) said in a report published Monday (http://bit.ly/14S5Imv). It analyzed data on outages reported by national regulators and reached several conclusions, including: (1) About 50 percent of the incidents affected mobile telephony or Internet, and the average outage hit around 1.8 million users, which is consistent with the high penetration rate of mobile services; (2) In over a third of the failures, the pan-EU emergency number 112 was affected. (3) The most common cause of the incidents was system failure resulting from such things as hardware failures and software bugs; (4) Incidents categorized as having resulted from third-party failures mostly involved power supply glitches; (5) Natural phenomena such as storms and heavy snowfall caused the longest-lasting outages; (6) Overload followed by power failure had the biggest impact in terms of number of users times duration; (7) Overall, switches and home location registers were the network components most affected by incidents. ENISA said it will discuss specific outages in more detail with national regulators and, if needed, agree on mitigating measures.
Missaukee County, Mich., announced its Technology Action Plan to set county-wide broadband connectivity goals to support “economic development and residential quality of life,” said Connect Michigan in a press release Friday (http://bit.ly/14v1B0y). The plan uses the Community Technology Scorecard to determine if the county meets the FCC’s National Broadband Plan (http://bit.ly/13zXm96). The community scored 19 out of 40 points in broadband access, 30 in broadband adoption, and 37 in broadband use, the report said. Missaukee County scored 86 out of 120 points for overall broadband technology readiness, which indicates “the community is exhibiting high success in technology adoption and use,” the report said. The plan proposes the county apply for U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to build broadband in the community and to identify, map and validate broadband demand. Public-private partnerships were proposed in the plan to deploy broadband service for middle-mile access. Digital literacy initiative proposals include broadband training for small and medium businesses, new technology initiatives in schools and promoting telemedicine in rural areas. “Fostering broadband adoption, education and access is critical to addressing the challenges of bringing Internet services into a rural community like Missaukee County,” said Linda Hartshorne-Shafer, the county’s emergency management and planning director. “Better broadband use and understanding are vital to so many facets of the broadband issue in Missaukee County and Northern Michigan, whether it’s from a residential or economic development standpoint."
Missaukee County, Mich., announced its Technology Action Plan to set county-wide broadband connectivity goals to support “economic development and residential quality of life,” said Connect Michigan in a press release Friday (http://bit.ly/14v1B0y). The plan uses the Community Technology Scorecard to determine if the county meets the FCC’s National Broadband Plan (http://bit.ly/13zXm96). The community scored 19 out of 40 points in broadband access, 30 in broadband adoption, and 37 in broadband use, the report said. Missaukee County scored 86 out of 120 points for overall broadband technology readiness, which indicates “the community is exhibiting high success in technology adoption and use,” the report said. The plan proposes the county apply for U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to build broadband in the community and to identify, map and validate broadband demand. Public-private partnerships were proposed in the plan to deploy broadband service for middle-mile access. Digital literacy initiative proposals include broadband training for small and medium businesses, new technology initiatives in schools and promoting telemedicine in rural areas. “Fostering broadband adoption, education and access is critical to addressing the challenges of bringing Internet services into a rural community like Missaukee County,” said Linda Hartshorne-Shafer, the county’s emergency management and planning director. “Better broadband use and understanding are vital to so many facets of the broadband issue in Missaukee County and Northern Michigan, whether it’s from a residential or economic development standpoint."
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Plan for big changes, speakers at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials told association members at its California meeting. They emphasized the significance of FirstNet and the technology changes inherent in next-generation 911. The changes, which will need to be harmonious, will affect how 911 call center operators and other emergency communications officials should plan and train staff, speakers said.