The Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the 4.9 GHz Coalition jointly urged that the FCC name a national band manager in the 4.9 GHz band. “It has been almost 18 months since the FCC adopted its decision to designate a nationwide Band Manager” and a freeze remains on new licenses in the public safety band, a filing posted Tuesday in docket 07-100 said. The groups noted they oppose FirstNet Authority “licensing, leasing, or other controlling use of this spectrum.” Instead, they favor a plan that would appoint the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, AASHTO and other public safety frequency coordinators as the band managers. “The wholesale licensing or leasing of this band to FirstNet and, therefore, to AT&T for integration into its commercial, consumer-focused network (or an arrangement that accomplishes the same end under a thinly veiled ‘shared use’ nomenclature), would be antithetical to the FCC’s locally controlled public safety primacy commitment,” they said. Meanwhile, top officials from the Major Cities Chiefs Association and the National Sheriffs’ Association met with Commissioner Brendan Carr They warned Carr against giving FIrstNet control of the band. “We discussed how it is important for public safety to continue to have access to multiple service providers in the 4.9 GHz band and how giving the band to the FirstNet Authority would eliminate choices for public safety since the FirstNet Authority has an exclusive contract with a single network provider, AT&T,” the police groups said.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea committed to working more closely on “economic security” and supply chain issues, according to a readout of a Camp David meeting between the three countries’ foreign ministers last week. The officials said they want to collaborate more on “Minerals Security Partnership projects” and are committed to “accelerating cooperation on critical and emerging technologies,” including through joint research projects.
Don't expect traditional methods of protecting radio astronomy from spectral interference to work when it comes to supplemental coverage from space (SCS), according to radio astronomy interests. In comments last week (docket 23-65), radio astronomy advocates repeatedly warned that SCS service poses a significant interference risk. Multiple parties said SCS service is too new to justify emergency calling requirements. The FCC's SCS framework order adopted in March (see 2403140050) included a Further NPRM on 911 and radio astronomy issues.
The U.S. plans to continue fine-tuning its export controls and sanctions against Russia in response to Moscow's attempts to get around them, a Biden administration official said this week.
Coastal TV is being forced to broadcast with a low-power transmitter that lacks sufficient power to cover its broadcast area due to a contract dispute with Mississippi TV, alleged a May 1 fraud complaint (docket 1:24-cv-00100), removed Tuesday from the Circuit Court of Lee County, Mississippi, to U.S. District Court for Northern Mississippi in Aberdeen.
Coastal TV is being forced to broadcast with a low-power transmitter that lacks sufficient power to cover its broadcast area due to a contract dispute with Mississippi TV, alleged a May 1 fraud complaint (docket 1:24-cv-00100), removed Tuesday from the Circuit Court of Lee County, Mississippi, to U.S. District Court for Northern Mississippi in Aberdeen.
Advocates for survivors of domestic violence, CTIA and the automotive industry welcomed an FCC initiative assisting survivors in accessing safe and affordable connected car services (see 2404230021). CTIA supported the proposed rules and told the FCC that wireless providers are "working towards timely and successful implementation" of the Safe Connections Act. Filings were posted through Friday in docket 22-238.
A proposed Missing and Endangered Persons (MEP) emergency alert system code was universally supported in comments from native groups, public safety officials, CTIA and NCTA. Comments were filed in docket 15-94 last week. Some entities differ on how a wireless emergency alert version should be implemented, and on whether an additional code is needed specifically for missing indigenous people. "There is little or no doubt that a dedicated alert code of this type will save lives and will therefore greatly exceed any nationwide implementation costs,” the National Tribal Telecommunications Association (NTTA) said of the MEP code.
Various groups supported arguments by the Coalition for Emergency Response and Critical Infrastructure (CERCI), which opposed the Public Safety Spectrum Alliance's (PSSA) move giving FirstNet effective control of the 4.9 GHz band (see 2405100061). The groups “fully endorse the legal analyses supporting both the CERCI April 15 Letter and the more recent CERCI filing explaining why the PSSA’s suggestion that the FCC is free to do indirectly what it cannot do directly is equally legally infirm,” the filing said: Not considering the CERCI arguments would “risk embroiling the 4.9 GHz band in an ongoing legal dispute, thereby perpetuating the underutilization of this spectrum that prompted the FCC to initiate this proceeding.” Posted Tuesday in docket 07-100, the filing was signed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, the American Petroleum Institute, the Enterprise Wireless Alliance, the Forestry Conservation Communications Association, the International Municipal Signal Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Utilities Technology Council.
The National Emergency Number Association told the FCC its members have been overwhelmed by the number of notifications they are receiving under new reporting rules (see 2401250015). NENA representatives met with staff from the Public Safety Bureau, said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-89. “The volume of notifications makes the notification process unhelpful … as there are too many notifications" for public safety answering points "to make meaningful operational decisions for notifications that may or may not apply to them,” NENA said: “Notifications may cover all PSAPs for a very large area, such as multiple states, without geospatial or other information to communicate the exact scope of the notification or whether the PSAP should act on it.”