NENA names new president 

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) announced Jason Barbour as its new president. Barbour, the 911 Director for Johnston County, N.C., replaces...

The value of vigilance 

By Glenn Bischoff

Children are amazing creatures. Nothing gets past them. Ever. If you doubt this, then exhibit some questionable behavior within a 2-mile radius of a child....

Let public safety drive rebanding effort 

By Wanda McCarley

Although the public-safety communications community continues to deal with a series of issues, one of our highest priorities is 800 MHz rebanding. Much...

Upheaval 

An MRT Staff Report

The dawn of a new day A rash of man-made and natural disasters in the U.S. over the past few years has spotlighted weaknesses when it comes to...

Burns loss has caucus looking for new co-chair 

By Donny Jackson

Yesterday’s election concession by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) will leave the E-911 Caucus with a void that will begin to be addressed as early as next week, according to Beltway sources...

700 MHz speculation heats up 

By Donny Jackson

Just a year ago, public safety was uncertain when it could access 700 MHz spectrum, whether broadband fit into its communications plans and how such a...

Think tank advocates IP strategy for public safety 

U.S.-based think tank The Aspen Institute last month released a report that advocates the federal government lead an effort to transition public-safety...

Congress passes port-security legislation without 911 amendments 

Congress passed a port-security bill last month, but the legislation did not include several 911-related amendments that now may be difficult to enact...

Public-safety must control broadband 

By Joe Ross and Guy Jouannelle

Considerable buzz has been generated recently around numerous public-safety broadband propositions, including the Cyren Call proposal to build a public/private...

Jurisdictional changes needed for 911 

By David Jones

Tip O'Neil, former Speaker of the House, once said, All politics is local. Surely he didn't have the 911 system in mind when he made that statement, but...

Creating codes for indoor wireless 

By Jay M. Jacobsmeyer, P.E.

Public-safety agencies face poor indoor radio coverage, especially at 800 MHz. Poor coverage is caused by both building losses and by interference from...

FCC spectrum auction raises $13.7 billion 

By Donny Jackson

The FCC last month concluded its auction of advanced wireless services, or AWS, spectrum after 161 rounds, with 104 commercial entities winning licenses...

Calif. Senate approves RFID privacy bill 

The California State Senate approved Bill 768, the Information Protection Act of 2006, in a 30-7 vote. Bill 768 requires the California Research Bureau...

More support for 700 MHz proposal 

By Donny Jackson

The Cyren Call Communications proposal advocating a public/private partnership to build a public-safety broadband wireless network on 30 MHz of 700 MHz...

FCC requests comments on Guard Band rule changes 

The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on service rules changes that the commission says may provide greater flexibility to 700 MHz guard-band...