The fifth First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) in-person state single point of contact (SPOC) meeting — the first since FirstNet announced its industry partner AT&T at the end of March — wrapped up this week with FirstNet officials saying states can opt in as soon as they receive their first state plan and reassuring states that they will address state portal terms of use concerns.

Verizon held a major disaster response exercise for first responders and state and local government officials in Perry, Georgia. The exercise, supported by partners, demonstrated how a variety of technologies can support first responders in emergency situations such as hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and terrorist attacks.

Siyata Mobile signed a vendor agreement and received a purchase order from a leading global two-way radio vendor. Siyata will provide the vendor with both rugged devices and commercial vehicle devices with push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) capabilities.

The IJIS Institute released a new white paper titled “CAD-to-CAD Data Sharing.” The IJIS Institute Public Safety Technical Standards Advisory Committee (IPSTC) created the white paper to assist the government community in its procurement of dispatch systems.

Ligado Networks formed a collaborative partnership with Harris to enable beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations (BVLOS) for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

Cobham Wireless delivered a public-safety communications system for the Eurasia Tunnel, the first undersea road tunnel to connect two continents. The multiband, multitechnology coverage solution provides the emergency services communications within the 5.4-kilometer tunnel, which links two areas of Istanbul and spans both Europe and Asia.

pdvWireless reported its fourth quarter and fiscal-year results for the period ended March 31.

RapidSOS announced a data-sharing partnership with Waze, a real-time crowdsourced traffic and navigation app. 9-1-1 centers connected to the RapidSOS next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) clearinghouse will soon be able to receive live incident data from Waze, providing public-safety call-takers and first responders with information around car crashes.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced grant recipients that will receive $197 million in competitive grant funding to help commuter and intercity passenger railroads meet the Dec. 31, 2018, deadline to implement positive train control (PTC) systems to improve safety.

AT&T executives told FCC officials that opting out of the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) results in “an exceptionally difficult and costly process for the state involved.” Four AT&T employees met with FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) staff May 18.

Jadoo Power Systems, a supplier of portable fuel-cell systems, is partnering with Network Environmental Systems (NES). The Jadoo Power XRT provides critical power for law enforcement applications, such as surveillance, remote or "off-grid" emergency assistance, and back-up communications power support. Jadoo said NES will promote the advantages of