|
|
Wavelengths
PSAP community needs more than hollow
gestures
By Glenn Bischoff
April 11, 2008
Next week is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, which
exists to bring attention to our nation’s 911 emergency call centers
and the dedicated and talented professionals who toil in them. The
recognition is richly deserved. It takes a very special person to be
able to keep one’s wits about them when the person on the other end of
the line is frantic.
April also has been declared National 911 Education Month by a coalition
of organizations including, as might be expected, the National Emergency
Number Association (NENA) and the Association of Public Safety
Communications Officials (APCO). Never missing a beat, or the
opportunity to issue a gratuitous proclamation, Congress got into the
act last month, when 56 members of the House of Representatives
co-sponsored a resolution that would officially designate each April
from now on as National 911 Education Month.
Among the co-sponsors were Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and John Shimkus
(R-Ill.), the House co-chairs of the Congressional E911 Caucus.
Eshoo’s office issued a press release that said the resolution is
intended to increase national awareness about the importance and
appropriate use of 911 services.
Yippee.
You might remember that Eshoo and Shimkus also were co-sponsors of
legislation that authorized up to $1.25 billion over a five-year period
to upgrade public safety answering points nationwide. (The legislation
also was sponsored by the Senate co-chairs of the Congressional E911
Caucus at the time, the former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.)—who since
has been replaced by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)—and Sen. Hillary
Clinton (D-N.Y.). Since the Enhance 911 Act was signed into law in
December 2004, only $43.5 million has been appropriated, according to
Patrick Halley, NENA’s governmental affairs director.
It would have been far better for Eshoo and Shimkus to co-sponsor a
resolution that would force Congress to pony up the rest of the money. I
asked Halley this week whether the PSAP sector was beginning to feel a
little like Charlie Brown, who never did get to kick the football.
“It is frustrating—there’s no doubt about that,” Halley said.
Unfortunately, time is running out, as the authorization window closes
next year. Consequently, NENA is changing its lobbying strategy
somewhat, Halley said. When what you’ve been doing isn’t working,
you have to try something else. In this case, the something else is
trying to convince Congress that providing funds to let PSAPs migrate to
next-generation IP technologies would be money well spent.
But NENA won’t totally move away from extolling PSAP upgrades to bring
them into compliance with the FCC’s Phase 2 requirements, as a need
still exists for such upgrades, according to Halley. While 83% of PSAPs
nationwide—covering 91% of the population—have some Phase 2
capability, more than a quarter of counties across the country—mostly
in rural or low-income areas—have no Phase 2 service, he said.
Meanwhile, the Senate Farm Bill, currently in committee, contains a
provision that would let PSAPs in rural areas obtain low-interest
government loans for upgrades, according to Halley. The problem with
that, at first glance, is that many rural areas don’t have the
population density to generate enough revenue from 911 surcharge fees to
fund operations on a daily basis, much less pay back a government loan.
However, Halley stressed that the 911 surcharge fees would be used only
to secure the loan, which theoretically would be paid back using some
combination of property and income tax revenue, he said.
Halley conceded that a loan program is “less ideal” than a grant
program. “But in some very, very rural areas, it might be an
interesting concept,” he said.
Given the current economic climate, Halley thinks federal money
increasingly will be more difficult to get, and predicted that the Bush
Administration will be looking to cut many grant programs. One grant
area that probably won’t be affected by any austerity measures is
homeland security, which Halley agreed is a sacred cow. That strikes me
as more than a bit ironic. Doesn’t anyone in Washington realize that
homeland security begins at the PSAP?
Perhaps educating the nation’s leaders on this point should be the
focus of next year’s National 911 Education month. I think Americans
already are well aware of the importance of 911 services.
E-mail me at gbischoff@mrtmag.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
 NEXEDGE from Kenwood is the key technology you need to
seamlessly move from analog to digital operations. You’ll have
trunking capabilities from the start and be deploying narrow band
technology designed and tested by an industry leader. Perfect for
large-scale operations in public safety, government and industry,
NEXEDGE is your edge on the future of voice and data communications. www.kenwoodusa.com
In the News
FCC
approves rules for wireless text alerts
By Donny Jackson
April 11, 2008
FCC commissioners this week approved an order to
establish a program for commercial wireless carriers to deliver
text-message alerts and critical information to their customers during
disasters or other emergencies, although many questions remain regarding
its implementation.
NATE works to
expand 'culture of safety'
By Glenn Bischoff
April 11, 2008
National Association of Tower Erectors, or NATE,
Executive Director Patrick Howey said this week that the organization is
working to develop a “culture of safety” throughout the tower
industry that includes both tower workers and tower owners. As part of
the effort, the organization reissued its checklist of recommended
procedures designed to make tower workers safer.
Motorola
escapes proxy fight, names Dorman as chairman
By Donny Jackson
April 10, 2008
Embattled wireless equipment vendor Motorola this week
made moves to shuffle its board of directors, nominating two allies of
influential shareholder Carl Icahn to the board and naming former AT&T
executive David Dorman as its non-executive chairman.
Click here for more
news stories
More News
FDNY
deploys Fortified DataCom's access points
April 10, 2008
Fortress
Technologies to support U.S. Army program
April 10, 2008
NENA posts
emergency call processing standard
April 9, 2008
Laird unveils
WiMAX antenna
April 8, 2008
Etherstack
wins TETRA, JTRS contracts
April 8, 2008
DataPath
delivers mobile command trailers to the Army National Guard
April 8, 2008
Indiana
police deploy BIO-key solution
April 8, 2008
Click here for
more news briefs
NPR Interview
Key
part of wireless spectrum goes unused
Despite $19 billion in bids at a wireless spectrum
auction, there was no winning bid for the spectrum set aside to build a
nationwide network for public safety operators. MRT's Glenn Bischoff was
recently interviewed by National Public Radio on the topic. Listen
to the interview here.
|
|
You are subscribed to this newsletter as #email#
To get this newsletter in a different format (Text or HTML),
or to change your e-mail address, please visit your profile
page to change your delivery preferences.
For questions concerning delivery of this newsletter, please contact our
Customer Service Department at:
Customer Service Department
Mobile Radio Technology
A Penton Media publication
US Toll Free: 866-505-7173
International: 847-763-9504
Email:mrtmag@pbinews.com
Penton Media
9800 Metcalf Avenue
Overland Park, KS 66212
Copyright 2007, Penton Media. All rights reserved. This article is
protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property
laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated,
transmitted,
displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium
without the prior written permission of Penton Media.
|
|
