Airbus Aerial was granted a waiver by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operations in Grand Forks, North Dakota, without the need for a visual observer.

A Verizon executive said that the lack of data interoperability between carriers is an issue of policy and not technology, and the company is ready to work with its competitors to ensure interoperability happens.

An Illinois district judge denied a motion from Hytera Communications to dismiss a patent infringement suit brought against it by Motorola Solutions in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

BK Technologies announced financial and operating results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30. For the second quarter, revenues totaled approximately $13.3 million, compared with about $13.7 million for the second quarter last year.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) selected four contractors to help the office in upgrading California’s outdated 9-1-1 system to a next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) platform. The effort to modernize the 9-1-1 system across the state will introduce proven state-of-the-art technology to ensure California is better prepared to assist those in need during emergencies and natural disasters.

Multiple systems will work together to provide seamless communications from the professionals reporting incidents to those dispatched to respond to the incidents. This network of integrated networks is all IP based, so voice, data and video flows freely from one pipe to another, and capacity and voice follow the optimal path to reach first responders.

The Wireless Innovation Forum (WInnForum) approved a charter for a new committee to study sharing arrangements in spectrum proposed for unlicensed operation within the 6 GHz band. The committee will provide technical input to inform the FCC’s 6 GHz rulemaking.

The U.K. Home Office selected Cobham to provide Emergency Services Network (ESN) Aircraft Communications System (ACS) in a contract worth £64 million (US$77.7 million). The ACS contract forms part of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) and is responsible for delivering the equipment and associated services to deliver the communications devices for the air-to-ground capability, approved for use on the ESN.

Support for a pair of 9-1-1-related bills is growing in Congress, an Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International official said during APCO’s annual conference in Baltimore last week.

The FCC plans to move quickly on a decision on proposed changes to the 6 GHz band but officials declined to provide a timeline of when that decision might be made.