The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) recommended testing requirements for backup power in light of 911 problems following the June 29 derecho wind storm that hit parts of the Northeast and Midwest. APCO also raised questions about Verizon’s response after problems emerged, the subject of an FCC investigation (CD July 3 p1). But industry commenters counseled the FCC against imposing backup power requirements or other new regulations on carriers as a result of the problems that followed the storm.
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) is “actively monitoring" the investigations of Verizon’s 911 outages during the June 29 derecho storm in northern Virginia, the association said Thursday (http://xrl.us/bnk4xc). NENA “will issue a full, formal statement when more information is available,” it said. Investigations are under way by the FCC, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the Maryland Public Service Commission and the Virginia governor’s office. NENA spotlighted the recent Verizon report (CD Aug 15 p1) and press coverage on its site. In a Friday editorial, The Roanoke Times of Virginia noted the “1,603 calls flooding E-911 in the first 12 hours,” underscoring 911’s importance during the derecho (http://xrl.us/bnk4x5).
The Justice Department and FCC Thursday laid out terms for allowing Verizon Wireless to buy AWS licenses from SpectrumCo and Cox, along with the marketing and other business agreements announced at the same time as the spectrum sales. As expected, DOJ’s focus was almost exclusively on the commercial agreements. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski concurrently circulated a draft order approving the Verizon/cable transactions as well as Verizon’s proposed spectrum swaps with T-Mobile and Leap Wireless. He said the T-Mobile deal removes many of the concerns about the spectrum sale. Opponents of the transactions were quick to say the conditions don’t go far enough. Jobs will be lost, the Communications Workers of America warned.
Emergency managers need to make sure they involve people with disabilities when making emergency plans, said Marcie Roth, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination. Alerts should be as accessible as possible, she said Wednesday on a FEMA webinar about the Integrated Public Alert and Warnings System. As an example, she highlighted a demonstration from the county of San Diego that used audio, text and American Sign Language messages in the same clip (http://youtu.be/hoxcc0PFcq0). Getting people with disabilities involved in emergency planning is critical because they have expertise and experience using communications systems that will be critical during emergencies, she said. “We've historically thought about people with disabilities as perhaps liabilities in emergencies and disasters,” she said. “But people with disabilities encounter some of the challenges with accessibility and access to effective communication on a daily basis and can be some of our greatest assets as we plan our work.” Roth said the National Council on Disability is preparing a report for later this year or early next year that will lay out the current state of disaster communications accessibility and provide some recommendations.
Several Virginia 911 directors met with Verizon officials Wednesday for a long closed-door meeting at the Alexandria Police Facility in northern Virginia. They discussed Verizon’s 911 failures during the June 29 derecho storm and reviewed a Verizon report on the outages at four 911 centers in northern Virginia as a result of two busted generators (CD Aug 15 p1). The telco remained contrite about the failure as the 911 directors emphasized the depth of the problem, participants told us just outside of the gathering and during interviews Tuesday.
The National Public Safety Telecom Council began a working group to explore questions raised by public safety’s pending loss of the T-band, which was part of the February spectrum law. Public safety got the 700 MHz D-block in the legislation, but had to give up the T-band, heavily used in 11 major metropolitan areas. NPSTC sent out a questionnaire (http://xrl.us/bnkk2a) to gather information as the group prepares a report, targeted for release near the end of the year. Among the major cities where public safety uses the band are Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, Houston and Washington, D.C. The legislation required public safety users to clear the band within nine years so it can be resold in an FCC auction.
Maine’s contended with what municipal officials believe to be a radio jammer who repeatedly distorts public safety channels, apparently intentionally. The FCC has acknowledged and is investigating the problem, which lasted for what some say is years. The investigation is ongoing and focuses on Lebanon, a town of about 5,000 people in Maine’s southern York County.
CEA President Gary Shapiro reacted negatively Friday to reports that Senate staffers plan to meet with broadcasters Sept. 14 to discuss putting radio chips in mobile devices (CD Aug 10 p14). NAB has claimed it doesn’t want a mandate for device makers and carriers to include FM tuners, Shapiro said in a written statement. “But the fact that broadcasters keep lobbying Congress is telling,” he said. Trade publications recently quoted Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan as saying he thinks that putting FM chips in mobile devices will boost radio listenership by 30 percent, Shapiro said. “So, if this FM chip business is about raising stock prices and not about public safety, then we encourage broadcasters to create demand and make deals with carriers to include FM chipsets,” Shapiro said. Of the Sept. 14 meeting, NAB thinks “it’s encouraging that policymakers are beginning to better understand the public safety value of having activated radio chips in cellphones,” spokesman Dennis Wharton told us in a statement. “We understand that from a business perspective, wireless carriers prefer selling a streaming service rather than voluntarily lighting up free radio chips already installed in the phones. We're hopeful the carriers will ultimately conclude that public safety trumps profits, and that denying mobile phone customers a lifeline radio option in an emergency situation represents an untenable longterm strategy.” To “be clear,” Wharton said, broadcasters are “not seeking a mandate” on FM chips in mobile phones. “Activated radio chips are standard features in mobile phones all over the world, except the U.S.,” he said. “The reason this is important” from a public safety perspective “is that cellphone networks crash in times of emergency,” he said. “Radio uses a different transmission architecture and would still work in a crisis situation.” CTIA thinks that any solution to what broadcasters seek “must be driven by consumer preference,” Jot Carpenter, vice president-government affairs, told us in an email Friday. “To the extent that consumers don’t choose the multitude of FM-capable devices that are already available, then I would recommend the FM radio stations look to see how they can better compete with the on-demand and customizable apps such as Pandora, Spotify and TuneIn,” he said. “As far as the Wireless Emergency Alerts, it’s important to remember that CTIA, FEMA, FCC, NOAA, The Weather Channel, Texas Association of Broadcasters, Florida Association of Broadcasters, Michigan Association of Broadcasters and the Association of Public TV Stations -- for a total of 42 entities -- were a part of the decision making process when WEA was created.” NAB said that the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts “can co-exist as complementary components of a National Alert System as envisioned by the President.'”
VoIP deregulation took another step forward at Wednesday hearing when the California Assembly Appropriations Committee voted 16-1 to approve SB-1161. The bill bans the California Public Utilities Commission from regulating VoIP service for the next eight years unless state statute permits it. It will now be considered by the full Assembly, after receiving Senate approval in late May and, in amended form, Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce approval in late June.
The president could issue an executive order on cybersecurity, an aide said Wednesday. Also that day, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., asked President Barack Obama to issue an order to secure the electrical power system from cyberattacks. John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, suggested that the White House was considering such an option. The Senate last week failed to vote on the Cybersecurity Act (S-3414). Republicans filibustered against it on GOP and business concerns it would give the federal government too much control through the Department of Homeland Security over what companies could do to protect computers and networks (CD Aug 2 p4).