Inside..
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National News
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One Question Survey
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Handbook Give-Away
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Field Day Pictures
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NIMS / ICS Training / Ohio Responds
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My Final
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FCC
Chairman to Appoint New Enforcement Bureau Chief
(from
ARRL Bulletins)
FCC
Chairman Ajit Pai has announced that he
intends to appoint Rosemary C. Harold to serve as chief of the Enforcement
Bureau. Michael Carowitz, who has been serving as acting bureau chief, will
become the Bureau’s deputy chief. Harold is an attorney with experience within
the FCC agency and in private practice; she’s also a former journalist.
“This
agency has a critical role to play in enforcing the law to protect consumers
and support competition in the communications marketplace,” Pai said “Our
Enforcement Bureau has been getting back on track in recent months, and I am
confident in Rosemary’s ability to continue this progress.”
Pai
also praised Carowitz’s work as acting chief. “Michael’s steady hand at the
helm of this important Bureau has helped us stay on task in protecting
consumers and enforcing the law,” he said.
The
Enforcement Bureau is charged with enforcing the Communications Act, FCC rules,
and various licensing terms and conditions. It also investigates instances of
possible unlawful conduct involving the regulated RF spectrum.
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Expect
some FirstNet builds by the end of the year, but pace will pick up in 2018
(from RCR Wireless
News and John Ross, KD8IDJ - Ohio Public Information Coordinator)
Earlier
this week, AT&T and the First Responders Network Authority released state
plans for the multi-billion build of a nationwide LTE network for first
responders. Later in the week, during the Wells Fargo 5G Forum, AT&T Senior
Vice President of Technology Planning and Engineering Scott Mair shared details
of the FirstNet timeline, as well as the opportunity presented by the new
allocation of 60 megahertz of 700 MHz spectrum.
Mair
explained AT&T would leverage the FirstNet build to further bolster its commercial
business as a function of not only spectrum sharing, but also deployment
logistics.
“We’re
going to use the FirstNet build, and as we touch the towers to build FirstNet,
we’re going to put that other spectrum to use. That’s going to put a lot of capacity
into the network. When you touch the tower, you’re not just touching it for
FirstNet, but you’re touching it to put other bands of spectrum…in service as
well.”
Mair
continued to note that the public-private partnership, which includes $6.5
billion in government funding over five years, will also allow AT&T to use
the 700 MHz spectrum that comes with the FirstNet deal for its commercial
service, which would also be available on a priority basis to government
players prior to the actual activation of FirstNet.
“When
it’s not being used for first responders,” Mair said, “AT&T will be able to
use it for our commercial business. It’ll be shared spectrum. The other aspect
is, as the states opt in…they will have access to AT&T’s commercial
network, as it sits today, on a priority basis. First responder organizations
don’t have to wait…for us to build before they get FirstNet capabilities.
They’ll be able to use our commercial network.”
In
terms of timeline, with the state plans now in circulation, states have 90 days
to review the plans, provide feedback and get a response from AT&T. At the
end of the 90 days, a second 90-day period starts during which authorities will
decide to opt-in or opt-out. If the call is to opt-out, states have 180 days to
develop their own plan, issue an RFP and get approval from the Federal
Communications Commission.
Mair
said, “As soon as somebody opts in, we will start designing and building that
network. The build may start minimally by the end of the year, but it’s really
going to be 2018. But our implementation process will start right when they opt
in. In the meantime, they’ll still be able to get FirstNet capability on our
network.”
Want
to read more on this story? Go to: http://www.rcrwireless.com/20170623/carriers/att-svp-shared-spectrum-firstnet-tag17
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One Question
Survey
Hey
Gang,
Have
you checked out the NEW Survey question on the website yet?. There is a brand
new question up there for you to answer! I really would like to know, so
please, just take a couple of seconds to answer it. You’ll find it on the left side of the main
page.. http://arrlohio.org !!
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Handbook Give Away
Have
you seen that the NEWEST “Handbook Giveaway” drawing on the website yet? Time
is running down fast.. There’s only a few days left to get registered for a
chance to win.
To
enter the drawing all you need to do is fill in a couple of boxes on the form..
(your name and email). That’s you need to do to be entered into the drawing to get
a chance to win a 2017 ARRL softcover Handbook. There’s nothing else required
(Oh.. You do need to be a resident of Ohio to win..) The winner
will be mailed the Handbook at my cost. This is being offered just to see how
many folks are checking in on the website. Got the idea? Best of luck to you!!
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FIELD DAY PICTURES
Did
you take pictures of your Field Day?? I
sure hope you did. I need your help. I need you to send me all of those
pictures that you took of those great operators, as well as your equipment,
antenna’s and other items that you had at your Field Day this year. I have a
gallery setup on the website
http://arrl-ohio.org/FD-2017/index.php with a bunch of
pictures from various sources already, but we need more, many, many more to
make this really great!
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NIMS / ICS
Training Update
We
need to be prepared to help in a professional and TRAINED manor now days, and
the only way of getting that training is to start taking these courses. We have
a lot to be proud of, and a lot more work to do. Every ARES member in Ohio now
MUST have these courses to be a part of the Ohio ARES program and to be registered
in the Ohio Responds database!
OHIO RESPONDS
Hey..
Don’t forget, once you’ve got all 4 of your required NIMS courses completed and
we have copies of your certificates, get registered with Ohio Responds. We have
133 people that have gotten registered. Have you gotten registered yet?
I have created a webpage where you’ll find all the pertinent information for getting registered on Ohio Responds website with as little issues as possible. You need to read this information BEFORE you attempt to register, and you will need to have all 4 of your NIMS courses completed and in our statewide database first! There’s some very specific information up there that you’ll need to know to correctly complete the registration process. Here’s a link to that webpage… http://arrl-ohio.org/ohio-responds-page.html You can also find this link on the main page of the Ohio Section website as well.
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My Final..
Ok..
I got to 15 Field Day sites this year. That’s a record for me. If I didn’t make
it to your Field Day I’m really sorry, but I’ll try even harder next year to
get there. One thing that I can say for every Field Day site was the food.
Wow.. operating for 24 hours really brings out the great food and camaraderie
in Ham Radio for sure. Everywhere I went I was greeted with smiles, handshakes
and the opportunity to share the love of this wonderful world of emergency
communications.
Amateur
Radio has a serious side as we just demonstrated this past weekend. What, you
didn’t realize that this was a practice run for when something really goes bad?
It can also have a FUN side too, as I’m sure we all had this past weekend as
well. I hope that this News Update has been informative and fun for you to
read. So, as we go through our training
and exercises, learning from the past and from those who are willing to take
the time to teach us, let’s remember to have FUN too! It’s what keeps us alive
and vibrant!
Got
questions, concerns or would just like to sit and chat awhile, give me a call
at (419) 512-4445 or email me at: n8sy@n8sy.com Want to
sit and just chat awhile? I’m available, Heck, I’ll even buy!!
73,
Scott,
N8SY..
eof..
