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Today's Top Stories
1. VA awards MDM, mobile app store contract
2. FCC reveals plan for spectrum auction
3. ITU tackles high cost of international mobile roaming
4. Defense officials: Mobility key to retention, productivity
5. California governor vetoes location data legislation Editor's Corner: Is VA MDM much ado about nothing?  Follow @fiercegov on Twitter
Also Noted: Box
NASA uses iPads to train for asteroid exploration; Army examines feasibility of integrating 4G LTE with tactical network; and much more... More News From the FierceMobileGovernment Network:
1. Sandia creates massive virtual Android network
2. VA BYOD reimbursement strategy isn't IT's call, says Baker
3. Public safety broadband network will rely on existing commercial infrastructure
| This week's sponsor is Box. | | With tight security mandates for cloud-based content management solutions, cloud solutions must integrate security into every phase of daily operations and product usage. Learn how Box can meet the needs of your mobile and collaborative workforce, while ensuring the security of your data with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Download this white paper today!
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Is VA MDM much ado about nothing?
 The Veterans Affairs Department has finally awarded its mobile device management contract--a departmentwide platform that will eventually scale to support 100,000 mobile devices.
The department has been talking about the MDM solution for more than a year, describing it as the lynchpin upon which so many other VA mobility efforts rely. In September 2011, VA launched a pilot of 1,000 iOS devices--but not without a small-scale MDM to keep tabs on the technology. And in January, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said no more iPads and iPhones would be piloted at the department until a larger-scale MDM was in place. But the lack of an MDM solution hasn't just stifled iOS device usage at the agency for more than a year, its stalled efforts to implement a bring-your-own-device, or BYOD, strategy. -->READ THE FULL EDITOR'S CORNER |
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Today's Top News 1. VA awards MDM, mobile app store contract
 The Veterans Affairs Department awarded Sept. 25 a $4.22 million contract for a mobile apps "collaboration environment" and a mobile device management solution, according to a contract document (.pdf) obtained by FierceMobileGovernment.
Rockville, Md.-based LongView International Technology Solutions, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business won the contract. The task order--issued under VA's Transformation Twenty one Total Technology, or T4, multiple award contract--could extend to $9.29 million over 3 years. At the time of this article's publication Longview and VA public affairs officials had not responded to requests for more details on the contract. During a press call Sept. 26, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said the long-awaited contract award would be finalized before the end of fiscal 2012, or by Oct. 1. Baker said he expects the MDM solution to provide a complete picture of mobility across the enterprise and be scalable up to 100,000 devices. But that doesn't mean VA will be doing any bulk purchasing of new mobile devices anytime soon. It's more likely VA business units will handle their own purchasing for government furnished equipment, possibly in 1,000-device increments, he added. The department has repeatedly said it would wait to pursue a bring-your-own-device strategy until the MDM was awarded. For pilot projects, such as its iOS device deployment, VA has been using a small-scale MDM. For more:
- download the award document (.pdf) Related Articles:
VA happy to follow on BYOD, says Baker
NIST: Agencies should use MDM software
VA's BYOD strategy won't be 'overly prescriptive,' says Baker Read more about: VA CIO, LongView International Technology Solutions
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2. FCC reveals plan for spectrum auction
 The Federal Communications Commission has outlined how it plans to run auctions to repurpose broadcast television spectrum as wireless spectrum.
Its Oct. 2 proposal (.pdf) includes a scheme to combine the reverse and forward auctions in one process. The reverse auction will let broadcasters sell back their spectrum rights, and the forward auction will let others bid on it for uses such as wireless broadband. In the scheme, broadcasters would make offers to give up spectrum as others bid to buy it. If the spectrum costs more in the reverse auction than it sells for in the forward auction, smaller quantities of it would be auctioned until the reverse auction price no longer exceeds the forward price. In the reverse auction, broadcasters will either bid a single price or participate in a multiple-round format where they'd decide whether to accept iteratively lower payments for their spectrum. For the latter case, the decision to exit would be irreversible. The FCC says it might also allow broadcasters to choose a minimum bid in advance, so the auction could generate bids automatically. Bidders are likely to prefer the iterative method so they don't have to determine an exact bid at the start of the auction. But it would also require the FCC to come up with more complex software than it would for the single-price method. Additionally, the reverse auction could either pay broadcasters the amount of their bid or the highest bid they could have still won with. The FCC also says it will consider whether to set maximum payments for spectrum. The first auctions are likely to be in 2014, Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement (.pdf). As mobile data traffic has exploded in recent years, demand for wireless spectrum has exceeded supply. The auctions "will help ensure that the U.S. has world-leading wireless networks, that we have the mobile bandwidth we need," Genachowski said. Although the notice of proposed rulemaking was only published Oct. 2, the FCC announced on Sept. 28 it had approved and would adopt the NPRM. For more:
- download the notice of proposed rulemaking, FCC 12-118 (.pdf)
- download Genachowski's statement (.pdf) Related Articles:
House subcommittee approves D block for public safety, FCC incentive auctions
Public safety poised to take control of D block Read more about: spectrum crunch, spectrum auctions
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3. ITU tackles high cost of international mobile roaming
 The International Telecommunication Union adopted in September recommendations for ways wireless operators could make international roaming charges more transparent to consumers.
The recommendations, ITU-T D.98, include texting roaming rates to users, placing a voluntary cap onto individual mobile network data consumption and alerting consumers when they near that limit. The recommendations, which haven't yet been released to the public, also say wireless providers could consider price caps on mobile roaming charges, said Richard Hill, an ITU attorney, in an interview. The issue of expensive international mobile roaming charges has recently intensified as a policy issue, with the matter sure to be addressed during a December ITU treaty-writing conference in Dubai known as the World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012. The WCIT-12 will consider revisions to the International Telecom Regulations, which unlike ITU recommendations, are binding on member states, should their governments ratify them--which in the United States, would require the advice and consent of the Senate. Proposals before the ITU for WCIT-12 include making mandatory some of the recommendations of ITU-T D.98, including price regulation. Those who do propose that will face the opposition of the United States. "Our view is you need to advance transparency. You need to make sure users are aware of what the rate plans are, how much their usage is, when they get to certain caps," said Terry Kramer, head of the U.S. WCIT-12 delegation, during a Sept. 19 Center for Strategic and International Studies event. "But government getting into the basis of saying a rate is appropriate or not to us, again, is a very worrisome sign," he added. Kramer, a former Vodafone executive, said wireless companies faced with a rate cap would find other means for making up lost revenue, "whether that's raising domestic rates, or whether that's raising handset prices." International roaming is a greater problem in other parts of the world apart from North America, where countries come in continent-spanning sizes. In areas where countries are of a smaller scale, it's possible to run into international roaming problems even while inside a home country due to border proximity. For more:
- go to a ITU press release on ITU-T D.98
- go to the CSIS event page (archived webcast available) Related Articles:
U.S. WCIT proposals gain regional support
ITU accepting public comment on WCIT-12 proposals
U.S. WCIT-12 proposals call for few changes Read more about: Terry Kramer
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4. Defense officials: Mobility key to retention, productivity
 The Defense Department needs to update its approach to mobility in order to complement younger employees' work style, said a Defense Intelligence Agency official speaking Sept. 27 during a panel at the Billington Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, D.C.
New DoD employees are used to operating very differently than their older colleagues, said Grant Schneider, deputy director for information management and chief information officer for DIA. "We're hiring those people and the first thing we do is make them lock up their phone, which they haven't been separated from for 5 years," said Schneider, and then instruct them to "go work with all these thousands of people in this great big building. And they don't know what the heck to do." "Yeah, we do make those guys do that. That's just the way it is," said Rob Carey, principal deputy CIO at DOD. "With the proliferation of devices, security has not been part of the consumer experience. It is very much part of our experience," he added. However, mobile devices are important to increase decision velocity, productivity and effectiveness, said Carey. The department is working with the Defense Information Systems Agency to establish an ecosystem that will support commercial mobile devices for controlled unclassified or for-official-use environments, or higher, said Carey. "Mobility has to be headed to the same place it's headed in our personal life," said Schneider. "We have to get our environment, and get the security pieces in place to be able to deliver that or a) they're going to leave, and b) we are not going to be effectual from the missions that we have to apply." "We hope in a not-too-distant future to be able to afford the state of the art devices that these college kids have today to them so they can use them to conduct business. This is going to become a centerpiece of DoD productivity," said Carey. Related Articles:
JIE funding must also be 'joint,' says DISA official
iPhone 5 in DISA's sights
BYOD for unclassified at DoD possible in 2014 |
5. California governor vetoes location data legislation
 California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed Sept. 30 a bill that would have required state law enforcement officials to obtain search warrants prior to accessing location data collected by wireless providers via cell phone towers.
"It may be that legislative action is needed to keep the law current in our rapidly evolving electronic age," wrote Brown in his veto message (.pdf) to state legislators. However, he added that he is "not convinced that this bill strikes the right balance between the operational needs of law enforcement and individual expectations of privacy." Democratic State Sen. Mark Leno, a supporter of the bill (S.B. 1434), told Politico that the bill made exceptions for emergency situations and, in his view, supported the U.S. Supreme Court's Jones decision, which ruled that global positioning system tracking is covered by the Fourth Amendment. The news comes amid a slew of activity around cell phone tracking and privacy concerns. On Sept. 21, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) introduced a similar bill in the House of Representatives that would require law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant signed by a judge prior to accessing email and cell phone data. The ECPA 2.0 Act of 2012 (H.R. 6529) could face opposition from the Justice Department, which takes the stance that non-GPS data, such as cell phone data and emails, are not covered by the Jones ruling. What's more, another tracking case is underway. On Oct. 2 a federal appeals court in New Orleans heard oral arguments in a case where law enforcement officials, in a routine investigation, obtained 60 days of records from two cell phone carriers without a warrant. In a statement the Electronic Frontier Foundation urged the court to "recognize cell phone users' privacy rights," by requiring a warrant prior to collecting cell phone location information. "In this case--and in many others across the U.S.--the government claims that cell phone users give up their privacy rights because they have voluntarily disclosed their physical location to the cell phone providers every time a phone connects to the provider's cell tower," said EFF. For more:
- download Brown's veto letter (.pdf)
- go to the Lofgren bill Related Articles:
Justice argues for cell phone tower location tracking
Courts tackle cellphone tracking
More than 1M cellular records requested by law enforcement last year Read more about: Zoe Lofgren, location tracking
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Box. | | Government IT leaders are increasingly turning to cloud-based solutions that centralize and control information, as well as meet the needs of today's highly mobile and collaborative workforce. Learn how Box delivers on the promise of cloud and mobility with secure collaboration that mitigates risk and reduces the cost of maintaining legacy file servers. Download this overview today!
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> NASA uses iPads to train for asteroid exploration. Article (Info Week)
> Air Force opts for Samsung Slate tablets. Article (GCN)
> Army examines feasibility of integrating 4G LTE with tactical network. Article (Army)
> Agencies yet to 'crack the code' on mobile management, security. Article (GCN)
> Army to launch mobile app store for intelligence services. Article (AOL Gov) And Finally... Octopus aren't just strong, they're also smart. Embedded video > Whitepaper: Mobile Device Management for Box Accounts Government today is increasingly collaborative and highly mobile, with a growing number of workers accessing agency content outside the office. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management reports nearly 114,000 federal employees, or 5.7% of the federal workforce, spends some time teleworking. A comprehensive mobile strategy isn’t a nice-to-have, anymore – it’s a necessity. Learn how Box can help. Download this Whitepaper today! > Whitepaper: Empowering Your Mobile Workers Today’s most productive employees are mobile, and your agency’s IT strategy has to be ready to support them with easy, reliable, 24/7 access to the information they need, across a broad range of communication devices. Learn how your agency can meet the many needs of your mobile workers - without overwhelming your IT department. Download this whitepaper now! > Survey: Federal IT Reform Please take a moment to participate in our brief 15 question 'Federal IT Reform Survey' where we will take a look at security policies, compliance concerns and budget management issues. All participants will receive a free summary report and we will donate $5 to Fisher House in support of military families for each of the first 100 completed surveys. CLICK HERE to get started. | ©2012 FierceMarkets This email was sent to ignoble.experiment@arconati.us as part of the FierceMobileGovernment email list which is administered by FierceMarkets, 1900 L Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 628-8778.
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