Troopers with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) have a new communications service that will help them in times of crisis. More than 750 troopers have enrolled their state-issued cellphones in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Wireless Priority Service (WPS) program.

The FCC released a public notice announcing that rule Section 90.251, which codifies a new procedure for public-safety entities to license mobile and portable radios on the federal interoperability channels, became effective Aug. 29.

While a pair of fires including the 229,651-acre Carr Fire burned over three communications sites in Shasta County, California, this month, support crews worked to keep communications up and running for the firefighting efforts.

The IT Resources Center of The Polish Armed Forces awarded Motorola Solutions a new contract to extend and redesign the army’s encrypted digital radio system. The redesigned TETRA system will provide the army with critical communications in military compounds, navy units, air bases and land forces throughout Poland.

Worcester County, Maryland, awarded Federal Engineering a contract to provide technical assistance in support of the implementation of a new 800 MHz public-safety mobile radio system.

In a report on the status of communications services in geographic areas impacted by Tropical Depression Lane as of Aug. 26, the FCC said the storm had minimal effect on communications. For example, 99.4 percent of the cell sites in Hawaii remain operational.

Motorola Solutions introduced the WAVE two-way radio TLK 100, which provides instant push-to-talk (PTT) communications over a nationwide Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network.

The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) chose Overland Contracting Inc. (OCI), a Black & Veatch company, to serve as the systems integrator and to oversee the design and implementation of an upgrade of its communications system.

In a filing with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Motorola Solutions argued that proposed ITC sanctions against Hytera Communications would not impact competitive conditions in U.S. markets.

Murus Cybersecurity, a communications security consulting firm, and Zetron announced an award from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program for new research to be conducted on Project 25 (P25) and Long Term Evolution (LTE) mission-critical push-to-talk (PTT) interface service.