Only a handful of public safety agencies seeking Broadband Technology Opportunities Program funds got money to build early 700 MHz networks, as the White House unveiled $1.8 billion in awards Wednesday -- the biggest set of announcements in the history of the stimulus program. Many of the 21 governments and government groups that got waivers from the FCC to launch systems in 700 MHz spectrum had applied for BTOP funding. It’s unclear how many more public safety grants will be awarded and how many systems won’t get built without federal funding. New York City, Washington, and Boston were among grant applicants that did not get awards in Wednesday’s round.
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council plans a series of focus groups across the U.S. to discuss broadband needs in an emergency, NSPTC said in its newsletter. The meetings will be held by the group’s Public Safety Wireless Advisory Committee and will look at such issues as network traffic, what type of broadband data is used, such as streaming video, and who sends the data to whom. Five sites have been suggested: “(1) California to review wildland firefighting, (2) Florida for a hurricane response, (3) East Coast for flooding, (4) Washington, D.C. for a major building fire, and possibly (5) Houston for a large-scale incident,” the group said.
The federal government and the public and private sectors must demonstrate more consistency in meeting expectations to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, said a GAO report released Monday. Federal policy requires a partnership model that includes public and private councils to coordinate policy and information sharing and analysis centers “to gather and disseminate information on threats to physical and cyber-related infrastructure,” it said.
The FCC’s possible reallocation of the 1675-1710 MHz band that’s used for weather satellite imagery could jeopardize public safety in times of weather emergencies, said the National Research Council’s Committee on Radio Frequencies. CORF is part of the National Academy of Sciences. Municipal and state governments use the imagery to warn the public and manage emergency response, CORF said in comments on the agency’s possible repurposing of the spectrum for mobile broadband use. The band is “not being used lightly” because several Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites transmit constantly to receive sites using the band, said CORF. Such spectrum use is efficient and the agency should be careful to balance the expanded use of the spectrum with public safety needs, the committee said. It said the FCC should be mindful of the effect of out-of-band-emissions on the neighboring 1660-1670 MHz band that’s used for radio astronomy.
Public interest groups and industry players got what may be their last chance to offer formal comments on Chairman Julius Genachowski’s proposed “third-way” broadband reclassification proposal. Reply comments were due at the agency Thursday. The FCC has logged almost 40,000 comments in the proceeding in the past 30 days, according to commission records, with many of the major players offering extensive comments that go on for dozens of pages.
A $302 million cut in the NTIA’s Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program, signed into law by President Barack Obama this week (CD Aug 12 p8), raises questions for applicants -- many of which spent tens of thousands of dollars in their efforts -- and for public safety agencies across the country that hope to use grants to build out networks in 700 MHz spectrum. RUS’s broadband program was not cut. Many applicants were surprised by the cut, which came in a bill providing $26.1 billion to states for Medicaid and teachers’ jobs.
BALTIMORE -- Polk Audio launched sales of DXi 12-volt products through Best Buy, giving its car audio national distribution lacking since Circuit City’s demise, Polk executives told us Wednesday. The 17 DXi products, including amplifiers, subwoofers and speakers, reached Best Buy’s stores about three weeks ago, they said.
The FCC should integrate planning for multilingual emergency alerts into state and local efforts and work closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Weather Service on long-term plans for origination of warnings in languages other than English, broadcasters said. FEMA is “on the verge of formally adopting” a common alert protocol that could be used for those purposes, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 04-296 from the NAB. It reported on a conversation between Public Safety Bureau officials and representatives of NAB and the Florida Association of Broadcasters, which was involved in now-scuttled plans to test alerts where stations would broadcast warnings in the language of a non-English station when it went off-air. A proponent of that so-called designated hitter system last week urged the commission to mandate it (CD Aug 6 p11).
Commerce Committee leaders on Capitol Hill seem at loggerheads over the right approach to building a public safety network. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., on Thursday night introduced a bill to give the D-block to public safety, as expected (CD Aug 6 p9). The measure clashes with legislation being drafted by House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who wants to codify the National Broadband Plan’s recommendation to commercially auction the 700 MHz spectrum. Public safety has vocally criticized the FCC and Waxman’s approach.
On July 29, 2010, the House of Representatives amended and passed H.R. 5850, a bill making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes.