Speedcast International signed an agreement with government satellite connectivity provider COMSAT to establish a common global service offering of Ku-band very small aperture terminal (VSAT) services for the government and maritime markets.

The FCC denied a waiver request and dismissed a February 2016 application from the County of Miami-Dade, Florida, to modify its Travelers Information Station (TIS) WQAW405 by expanding its service area.

The buildout of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) should take less than the five years allowed under the contract, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said.

Westell Technologies announced results for its fiscal 2017 fourth quarter ended March 31.

NYU Wireless and Sprint announced they are working together to further development of mobile 5G technology. Sprint joined the university research center at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering as an industry affiliate sponsor.

Mission-critical communications suppliers took advantage of Critical Communications World (CCW) in Hong Kong last week to announce new products aimed at the reality of continued narrowband voice services for the foreseeable future and pending rollouts of mission-critical broadband networks around the world.

The TCCA has revamped its former Control Rooms Working Group as the International Critical Control Rooms Alliance (ICCRA), headed by Peter Prater, key account manager with Frequentis. ICCRA’s goal is to become the focus and platform for critical service control room discussion, learning and best practice development.

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) published a white paper on broadband data implications for rural EMS organizations. The paper highlights unique issues facing rural EMS agencies and examines how public-safety broadband communications may be used to support and enhance EMS service delivery.

The FCC issued a briefing order for the state of Indiana and Sprint after the 800 MHz Transition Administrator (TA) reported that the parties had reached an impasse in negotiating the costs to be reconciled as part of the closing of their frequency reconfiguration agreement (FRA).

President Donald Trump’s fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget proposal was delivered to Congress May 23. The budget requests $44.1 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a $2.8 billion or 6.7 percent increase compared with the FY 2017 annualized continuing resolution.