In an apparent win for carriers, acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing a standard auction for the 3.45-3.55 GHz band, offering the big license sizes favored by national providers. The auction would start Oct. 5 and use an ascending clock format. The FCC also released its open radio access network notice of inquiry and public safety items for the March 17 commissioners’ meeting.
A tough 2020 for emergency call takers shows the need for more federal funding, said three local call center heads on an NG-911 Institute webinar Tuesday. Current funding is “grossly inadequate” to build facilities with sufficient technology, security and interoperability, said Orleans Parish Communication District Executive Director Tyrell Morris. “I don’t know of a single federal resource that is available today for construction of a 911 center to really meet these needs.” There are grants for technology improvements, "not the true brick and mortar we need.” New Orleans faced a disastrous spike in COVID-19 cases last year after Mardi Gras was a super-spreader event, he said. Unable to telework when the coronavirus first hit, 911 call takers were left “more vulnerable than the average person going to work,” said Renee Gordon, Alexandria, Virginia, Department of Emergency Communications director. As the virus continued to spread, Alexandria learned how to tweak existing equipment to allow remote working (see 2006120038), but many smaller centers couldn’t do that, she said. Teleworking would have helped during the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball game in Alexandria, she said. “We had an influx of calls,” and it would have helped to allow workers not on shift to immediately take calls at home, she said. More rural network infrastructure funding would improve emergency response in Larimer County, Colorado, said Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority CEO Kimberly Culp. During summer wildfires last year, landline emergency alerts had a 60% failure rate, she said: It wasn’t due to the carrier or the alert system, but because many rural areas lack broadband and cell towers.
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said 5G issues will be a focus at the March 17 commissioners’ meeting, circulating a draft order to start an auction of the 3.45-3.55 GHz band in early October (see 2102230046). She plans a notice of inquiry opening a “formal discussion” on open radio access networks, the FCC said Tuesday. Rosenworcel announced Monday commissioners will vote on rules for the $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program (see 2102220065).
Radio broadcasters are at odds with one another and with NAB over whether the FCC should change FM booster rules to allow geotargeted radio broadcasts, in comments posted through Wednesday in docket 20-401. The NPRM “could open new doors for the marketing practices of small businesses,” said Emmis Communications. Dozens of smaller broadcasters submitted nearly identical comments supporting the proposal (see 2101270069), but NAB asked the FCC to hold off.
ITS America is pushing the FCC to drop plans to change how the 5.9 GHz band is allocated, as a working group released a plan Wednesday on how industry can use the 30 GHz still allocated to intelligent transportation systems, officials said during a webinar Wednesday. They cautioned that the 30 MHz will be usable only if it is protected from Wi-Fi in the other 45 MHz of the band and said some technologies are no longer viable.
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued an advisory Thursday reminding emergency alert system participants of compliance obligations. The 2019 national EAS test identified several issues “that impair dissemination of EAS messages,” the advisory said. They include following up on messages that don’t meet EAS accessibility requirements, ensuring equipment is monitoring and transmitting, and complying with reporting procedures, the advisory said. “Failure to comply with the EAS rules may subject a violator to sanctions including, but not limited to, substantial monetary forfeitures.”
The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions proposed practices that would help carriers improve the geographic accuracy of wireless emergency alerts. The document was shared with shareholders but hasn’t been made public, an ATIS spokesperson said. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai praised the development Wednesday: WEAs “are a more powerful public safety tool than ever before, but I’ve been clear that more should be done to improve the geographic accuracy of these life-saving messages." Pai asked ATIS’ Wireless Technologies Systems Committee to develop the best practices in September (see 2009100010). A few weeks later, ATIS said it was preparing a white paper (see 2010010055). The report “presents a detailed explanation, accompanied by illustrations, of the broadcast characteristics and other factors that drive the results of the cell/sector selection by the Commercial Mobile Service Providers when building the broadcast for a given alert,” ATIS said. “The white paper is part of a robust standardization effort around WEAs that ATIS is leading.”
Iridium's maritime distress and safety system mobile satellite service is active. There's real-time emergency voice calling and a distress alert, the company said Tuesday. The FCC OK'd the service in 2019 (see 1912270041).
Hill conferees’ version of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act retains some modified language from separate House- and Senate-passed versions of the measure (HR-6395/S-4049) aimed at hindering Ligado’s L-band plan rollout, as expected (see 2011230063). Ligado’s supporters and opponents aren’t completely satisfied with the language, though both sides spun it as a relative win. Some also believe it’s unlikely the FCC will act soon on the Ligado approval petitions for reconsideration pending before it (see 2005210043). The FCC didn't comment.
The Washington, D.C., Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency asked the FCC for a waiver to do a live wireless emergency alert system test Jan. 8, starting at 11 a.m., in preparation for the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration. The test “involves the use of the WEA text message and city’s official e-mail list portion of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System” and covers an area including the Capitol and White House, said a filing posted Monday in docket 15-91.