I read a fascinating article that spurred my thinking about the revolution that ubiquitous broadband services will bring to public safety. The article from the New York Times highlights a wearable camera some police departments are requiring officers to turn on when getting out of their patrol cars to interact with citizens. It loads those … Continue reading
Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, South Dakota, Wyoming, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Nebraska have been coordinating their FirstNet and public safety broadband related activities through a group called the Western States Alliance. A recent Urgent Comms’ story based on a panel at IWCE quoted Nevada’s Chris Magenheimer saying that the group would … Continue reading
A recent article about a discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) highlighted the importance of the upcoming FCC incentive auctions. There are a lot of interested parties in the these auctions: consumers want devices with lots of bars, the manufacturers of wireless products want consumers to buy more devices with bars, and the current … Continue reading
The author sees the potential for the new public safety broadband network, or FirstNet, to greatly increase public safety’s situational awareness and ability to collect and disseminate data. As Corner Alliance has written in its blog, the possibilities for a transformation in the way public safety communicates has barely been glimpsed at this point. Key … Continue reading
FirstNet ushered in a new era this week with the first meeting of its new board. It was good to see the Attorney General, DHS Sectary, OMB and DoD representatives, the public safety members, and industry representatives all together. Now the hard work of developing a broadband capability for public safety will begin and it’s … Continue reading
Michael Bostic calls for newly formed FirstNet to put the needs of public safety rather than the “politics of business or Congress” first. Key Points: The author lays out three key priorities for public safety: The primacy of public safety’s operational needs Local autonomy within the national system The ability of localities to tailor the … Continue reading
