After years of the IoT serving niche applications and specialized use cases, trends are converging to push it mainstream by creating new ways for products and services to interact with individuals, the cloud environment and potentially “thousands of applications,” said a Tuesday Technicolor report. Advances in processing power, automation and intelligence have evolved over the past decade at the same time costs have dropped for sensors that connect devices to hubs. “The biggest difference between where we are today and where we were five years ago is that IoT is increasingly seen as a mainstream technology that is accepted as an important part of the fabric that defines our digital lives,” said Girish Naganathan, chief technology officer, Technicolor Connected Home. IoT applications are emerging in building management, energy efficiency, industrial IoT and connected spaces, said Naganathan. Brownfield development in IoT-enabled durable goods like appliances and cars allows software created on top of legacy systems to coexist with products and software that have been in production for decades, he said. Combining IoT capabilities with legacy technologies allows a manufacturer to alert users that a system is about to fail and trigger a service call, he said. Greenfield development in IoT -- products created from the ground up for internet connectivity -- is “fundamentally changing user experiences,” he said, giving connected thermostats, smart locks and TVs as examples. IoT is playing a central role in transforming home gateways and set-top boxes that manage broadband traffic for in-home consumption, evolving from supporting proprietary single-function applications and devices to platforms that manage an array of complex services within the home, he noted. That trend is “unleashing new economic activity that is being enhanced by new innovative services in the cloud.” The IoT opens a new world of business models, technologies and services to create “integrated experiences that are intuitive and secure,” said Naganathan. It will be important for companies to forge and nurture long-term IoT relationships “that integrate complex technologies and go-to-market strategies” that are “frictionless experiences” for consumers and businesses, he said.
The FCC’s last open meeting of 2021 will include votes on making emergency alert systems messages more accessible, changes to competitive bidding regulations for E-rate, and revisions to spectrum sharing rules for low-orbit satellite systems, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel blogged. The virtual meeting is Dec. 14 at 10:30 a.m.
Broadcasters want the FCC to distinguish between “next-generation EAS” (emergency alert system) and enhanced alerting through ATSC 3.0, said replies posted Friday in docket 15-94. “Conflating the two platforms threatens to encourage the migration of the rules and requirements that govern EAS (which have accrued from the 1950’s to this proceeding) to ATSC 3.0 emergency messaging,” said the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance and ATSC. The 3.0 “optional, value-added urgent news information service” is called “Advanced Emergency Information” and is a valuable supplement for EAS alerts but isn’t the same thing, NAB said. “Refrain from regulating such an optional ATSC 3.0 content service because it is unrelated to the vital service provided by the EAS system and doing so could hinder innovation.” AWARN and ATSC urged the FCC not to impose alerting regulations on streaming media. NAB reiterated (see 2110200065) that an FCC proposal for persistent EAS alerts isn’t feasible.
T-Mobile filed a supplement to its Aug. 25 response answering FCC questions on its performance during the Aug. 11 nationwide wireless emergency alert test (see 2108260046). The carrier emphasized that system performance was “within normal parameters,” in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-91: “Within seconds, the alert was distributed to millions of cells sites over multiple technologies. This process was completed while separate live WEA alerts were issued and transmitted simultaneously. The system performed as intended and we did not observe any anomalies.”
Funding for next-generation 911 is the “biggest challenge and would make the biggest difference,” said Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief David Furth during an FCBA CLE webinar. “It’s not something the FCC can make happen.” Others agreed about the importance of funding. Congress is considering NG-911 money via the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package (HR-5376), but the measure's prospects remain unclear.
Some House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee members signaled interest during a Tuesday virtual hearing in beefing up first responders’ communications infrastructure around the National Mall, the Capitol Building and other federal facilities in Washington, in response to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Other members cited the need for improving foreign language speakers’ access to wireless emergency alerts and other public safety communications platforms, and pressed Federal Emergency Management Agency Director-Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Antwane Johnson on how that entity has implemented fixes to prevent a repeat of the 2018 false missile alert in Hawaii (see 1801160054). The Tuesday hearing was a follow-up to an October one that highlighted communications issues first responders continue to face 20 years after the Sept. 11 attacks (see 2110070059).
Verizon’s broadcast message center (BMC) performed “as we would have expected, including the duration between the BMC’s receipt of the English and Spanish language versions of the message” from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, during the August wireless emergency alert system test (see 2108260046), the carrier said in a letter to the FCC, posted Thursday in docket 15-91. The time required “reflected the need to map the alert to the large number of sites in Verizon’s nationwide network, to determine the appropriate [mobility management entity] (which directs WEAs to associated cell sites), and to process both the English and Spanish language text versions of the message,” it said: The Public Safety Bureau asked that the information be filed.
Multiple states likely won't have adopted legislation on rollout of 988 services when the suicide prevention hotline goes live nationwide July 16, mental health policy advocates told us. That could result in impeded service for states that haven't set up funding mechanisms for call centers to handle the increased volume of call traffic expected. Some state legislators that faced opposition this year after carriers raised fee concerns hope to pass bills in 2022.
Broadcasters, cable groups and emergency alerting companies resisted FCC suggestions for persistent emergency alert system warnings and changes to alerting codes. “It is simply not feasible to incorporate these changes cost-effectively into the existing, well embedded system,” said NCTA. Comments were due Tuesday in docket 15-94.
Emergency communications have improved since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, including the launch of FirstNet, but problems persist, said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), chair of the House Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Subcommittee, during a virtual hearing Thursday. The Homeland Security Committee panel heard from first responders who warned of funding shortfalls and that many areas are falling further behind as technology advances.