The staff of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) filed a "non-binding" memorandum on the minimum interoperability requirements for the 700 MHz Public Safety Broadband Network (700 MHz PSBN) in FCC Docket No. 12-74. The memo was sent to the Technical Board for First Responder Interoperability (Interoperability Board), which was established under the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Spectrum Act) and which must submit baseline technical requirements for the 700 MHz PSBN by May 22, 2012.
While the Interoperability Board is independent from the FCC, it requested the FCC's PSHSB issue an assessment and is likely to give serious consideration of the FCC's assessment when it develops its baseline technical requirements. The specific issues analyzed by the staff included the definition of "interoperability;" technology platforms and system interfaces; prioritization and quality of service; performance; security; conformance testing; and other issues.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rulemaking on interoperability in the Lower 700 MHz band (698-746 MHz) was published in the Federal Register earlier this week. Thus, the official deadline for comments has been set for June 1, 2012 and for reply comments on July 16, 2012.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) invites comments on whether the Commission should consider requiring interoperability in the Upper 700 MHz band (746-806 MHz) as well as the lower 700 MHz band, is a key issue for utilities who may be interested in sharing the upper 700 MHz band with public safety. The Upper 700 MHz band consists of the C Block, which is comprised of 22 megahertz of paired spectrum for commercial use, two guard bands, the public safety allocation and the D Block, which consists of 10 megahertz of paired spectrum that will be reallocated for use by public safety entities in accordance with the Spectrum Act. Read more »

The NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP)has released version two of its Interoperability Process Reference Manual, with a guide to the process by which test laboratories and certifying organizations are accredited for evaluation of Smart Grid products. Utilities that are interested in smart grid interoperability testing, and the procedures recommended by NIST, should download the document as a reference.

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During an Interoperability Forum held on Friday, March 4, 2011, Erika Olsen, Special Counsel to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau pleaded for parties to submit legal arguments to support the secondary use of the 700 MHz public safety spectrum including utilities and other critical infrastructure industries. Olsen explained that the FCC is revisiting this issue in light of statements of support by certain public safety entities who want to promote coordination of emergency response, spread costs and share infrastructure. She stressed that while policy arguments are very important, even the most compelling arguments do not trump the law. She went on to explain how section 337(f) of the communications act requires that the "sole or primary purpose" of public safety services must be to protect life, health or property, and that parties should explain how the FCC could allow secondary use consistent with this limiting language in the statute. She clarified that section 337(f)(1)(B) also requires the licensees must be governmental entities or nongovernmental entities that are authorized by a public safety entity and that parties should explain how to ensure that such authorizations that are obtained are legitimate. She informed the audience that section 337(f) requires the public safety services be made commercially available to the public and that parties should explain how commercial arrangements comport with this language. Finally, she described that section 337(a) allocates 36 MHz for commercial services and 24 MHz for public safety services and that parties should explain how allowing access to the 24 MHz of public safety spectrum by commercial entities can be accomplished consistent with the limiting language in the statute. Olsen closed by reiterating her plea to refresh the record for the legal and factual support to support secondary access to the 700 MHz spectrum.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified an initial set of five standards that it sent for consideration by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Technical Conference (FERC) for adoption as part of its Smart Grid Interoperability Roadmap. However, panelists at the FERC Technical Conference held today reported unanimously that the standards are not ready for adoption by the Commission.

One of the main issues identified during the meeting was the fact that many panelists said it was unclear what ‘adoption’ of the standards meant. For example, they were unsure if the standards, if adopted, would be made mandatory; and if so, would they be implemented right away. Dr. George Arnold, NIST’s National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability, put a call out to utilities to guide FERC by providing input on how they intend to use the standards, and to throw light on which standards they are using as they deploy the smart grid across their territories. Read more »