State officials and industry experts are questioning information included in draft spectrum manager lease agreements (SMLAs) distributed to states that requested the information from the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). The SMLAs include proposed termination payments in the millions — and billions in at least two instances — of dollars for some states, along with prohibiting separate core networks, adoption targets and interoperability requirements.

South Korea has outlined a three-step approach for nationwide deployment of its public-safety Long Term Evolution (LTE) network with the first service planned for 2018 in two cities and provinces. A second pilot project is also underway in the areas of the 2018 Winter Olympics and will run through March 2018.

Motorola Solutions said it will combine the best of Vertex Standard's portfolio with its two-way radio product lines beginning Jan. 1, and all products will carry the Motorola Solutions brand.

The House emergency preparedness, response and communications subcommittee held a hearing titled “Assessing First Responder Communications” that touched on topics from the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to T-band spectrum to the reduction in the number of statewide interoperability coordinators (SWICs).

Recently, there has been some debate on the meaning and definition of “public safety grade.” The recent hurricanes underscore the need for clarity on what it means and what public safety needs with regard to reliable data. A National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) document published in 2014 provided a definition that the overall system design enables system and service to achieve 99.999 percent availability.

Comments for the FCC’s notice of inquiry (NoI) were mixed in response to a petition to realign the 900 MHz band for broadband operations, with most utilities opposing any realignment and other critical infrastructure industries (CII) entities saying it would benefit future networks and licensees.

New Hampshire’s Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC) voted unanimously to recommend opting out of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) state plan for New Hampshire. The recommendation will go to the commissioner of safety and then Gov. Chris Sununu, who will make a final decision.

Two Vermont citizens filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department of Commerce pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. The DOC oversees the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The high winds of Hurricane Irma posed a challenge for first responders and 9-1-1 dispatchers in communities across Florida. In both Collier and Pinellas counties, emergency officials had to pull first responders off the roads for a period because of wind speeds that exceeded 140 miles per hour and made it too dangerous to be out.

Dan Robinson, acting supervisor for field support services for Michigan’s Public Safety Communications System (MPSCS), offers the latest updates on the Programming and Management (PAM) Tool, which helps with the increasingly complicated job of programming two-way radios.