| This week's sponsor is Meru Networks. |  | Download the White Paper "802.11ac in the Enterprise: Technologies and Strategies" to learn from industry expert Craig Mathias about the technologies behind 802.11ac, deployment misconceptions and review steps that every organization should take in getting ready for 802.11ac.
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Also Noted: IBM
Need GEOINT? There's an app for that, even when disconnected; FirstNet board member Charles Dowd reportedly will retire from NYPD; and much more...  Follow @fiercegovit on Twitter
More News From the FierceMobileGovernment Network:
1. Q&A: China cyber espionage charges provide 'missing part of the puzzle,' says former DOJ litigator
2. New federal Google Analytics guide adds demographic, real-time tracking
3. Obama dispatches Nabors to investigate VA medical facility deaths
| This week's sponsor is Oracle. |  | Making the Most of Your CRM: How Best-in-Class Sales Teams Maximize Revenue and Customer Experience
This Research Brief combines research from a number of Aberdeen Sales Effectiveness research data sets, to create a holistic view of the most effectively deployed CRM systems. Download today.
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Today's Top News 1. Text-to-911 goes live
Residents of some U.S. cities are now able to contact emergency personnel at 911 through text message. On May 16, the Federal Communications Commission-backed program went became available on a limited basis. Thirty-nine cities and counties, and the entire states of Maine and Vermont now offer the service, according to an FCC document (pdf). FCC plans for all public-safety answering points to support text-to-911 by year end. To use service, individuals in an emergency can text 911 with their emergency and their location, just as if they were speaking to an operator. The success of the project also depends on carrier support. The four major carriers – AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon – voluntarily agreed in 2012 to provide text-to-911 service by May 15 of this year. In a March 5 notice of proposed rulemaking, the FCC said the progress of the four major carriers suggested that others can adopt the technology too, but it wanted public input on whether it's feasible for small and rural carriers by Dec. 31. For more:
- download "Text-to-911 Deployments as of May 16, 2014" (.pdf) Related Articles:
Spotlight: FCC rule to improve tracking of indoor 911 cellphone calls
FCC pushes text-to-911, seeks public input
FCC calls for text-to-911 this year Read more about: FCC, emergency communications
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| This week's sponsor is Acronis. |  | Enhancing Enterprise Mobility with BYOD
Understanding the ins and outs of everything BYOD is the first step of establishing an easily managed, secure enterprise with a mobile workforce. Download Now! |
2. Cellphone conversation interception grows more accessible as policy debate lags
As the technology for intercepting cellular communications becomes cheaper and more accessible, law enforcement and intelligence agencies need to open up about the security vulnerabilities that allow for interception, says a forthcoming article from the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology. Cellular communications are inherently vulnerable to interception because they travel through the air, meaning someone trying to intercept them just needs to be in the same geographic area instead of having to physically tap telephone wires. A single interception device can also listen in on numerous conversations instead of just those traveling across one wire. Already, the technology is cheap enough for law enforcement, foreign governments and sophisticated criminals to intercept cellular communications, and it may not be long before the "average stalker or garden variety criminal" can afford it, the article says. But government agencies have kept information about how interception works secret "in an ostensible but futile effort to prevent criminals from learning how to thwart the technology," it says. The article's authors – Stephanie Pell, a fellow at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, and Christopher Soghoian, a fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project – argue that government agencies need to warn lawmakers and the public about the threat of interception so they can prevent it. In the past, policy remedies have revolved around prohibiting the use or sale of interception technology, but the article says the focus should be on the weak encryption used by wireless carriers. "To date, there has been no public effort to address the cellular network security vulnerabilities or to warn the public about them," the article says, despite the prominent efforts of the Obama administration and members of Congress to address other cybersecurity issues. For more:
- see the article, "Your Secret Stingray's No Secret Anymore: The Vanishing Government Monopoly Over Cell Phone Surveillance and Its Impact on National Security and Consumer Privacy" Related Articles:
Soghoian: Technology has minimized the procedural costs of surveillance
Federal judge rules in favor of FBI use of stingray Read more about: encryption, mobile devices
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3. FCC sets AWS-3 spectrum auction goal
If the Federal Communications Commission can raise $10 billion in its AWS-3 auction this fall, it will consider the auction a success, said the agency in a May 19 filing. The 2155-2180 MHz portion of the AWS-3 auction and the 1695-1710 band will all help fund the Public Safety Trust Fund. The fund supports the planned nationwide interoperable wireless broadband network for first responders, known as FirstNet. Some federal agencies currently use the spectrum, which spans 65 MHz in all. According to the FCC announcement, agencies will surrender some spectrum over time but other portions of spectrum will remain available in a shared capacity "indefinitely." For example, licenses in 1695-1710 MHz band are being made available on a shared basis with incumbent federal meteorological-satellite data users, says the FCC. The FCC plans for the auction to begin Nov. 13, making it the agency's second major auction of 2014. On Feb. 27, the commission completed its first major spectrum auction in six years. The auction of 176 H Block licenses in the 1915-1920 megahertz and 1995-2000 MHz bands, raised more than $1.5 billion in proceeds. FirstNet expects to garner $7 billion in funding from the revenue of the FCC's three auctions, the largest of which is the forthcoming broadcast spectrum incentive auction scheduled for mid-2015. The auction will include a reverse auction to obtain spectrum from broadcasters, the FCC will then re-pack broadcast spectrum in order to auction it to wireless carriers. For more:
- go to the AWS-3 auction announcement Related Articles:
Restricted spectrum auction advocates dismiss AT&T, Verizon worries
FCC commissioner: Plan to restrict competition could doom spectrum auction
After auction, spectrum must be left for rural providers Read more about: FCC, FirstNet
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4. VA official: Communication critical in mobile deployments
When the Veterans Affairs Department introduced participants in its family caregiver program to a host of health management applications and even gave them iPads, it wasn't expecting to have some of the devices shipped right back. The department invited its 4,000 enrollees – who are paid a stipend to help take care of a seriously injured veteran – to participate in the pilot, said Shawn Hardenbrook, director of web and mobile solutions at the Veterans Health Administration. "About a quarter of them said, 'Yeah, we want to be in it,' and by the time we actually distributed iPads some people decided 'no,'" said Hardenbrook May 15 while speaking at the FOSE conference in Washington, D.C. "That's kind of interesting because we have these cool, really awesome apps and we thought everyone would want them. We gave them the iPads and some of them sent them right back," he said. Participants were uncomfortable with entering health data into the applications due to a lack of trust in how the data would be used and its security and privacy, he said. Hardenbrook said the experience highlighted the challenge of communication. While many people will embrace these applications right out of the gate, others will need more education on how the apps will use their data and how they can be helpful. Related Articles:
VA-DoD integrated health app coming, says VA official
VA stands up app-review office Read more about: iPad, Department of Veterans Affairs
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5. Restricted spectrum auction advocates dismiss AT&T, Verizon worries
Advocates for a spectrum auction where the Federal Communications Commission sets aside some spectrum specifically for smaller carriers expressed disbelief during a recent panel discussion that the restrictions would hurt the auction. The two dominant carriers, AT&T and Verizon, "are not pleased that the set-aside trigger will prevent them from completely foreclosing additional facilities-based competition," said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at the New America Foundation, which hosted the event earlier this month "That's pretty incredible when you consider they already control more than two-thirds of all low-band spectrum nationally and more than 80 percent in major markets," he added. Mark Cooper, research director at the Consumer Federation of America, asserted that AT&T and Verizon's motivation for opposing restrictions to help smaller carriers was to keep their competitors from winning any spectrum at all. "AT&T's frantic efforts to derail that simple pool approach" – i.e., placing some spectrum into a bidding pool that is off limits for dominant carriers – "strikes me as pretty good evidence that it's a darn good device that the commission has come up with," Cooper said. The FCC adopted rules for next year's auction of 600 megahertz band spectrum May 15, reserving some for carriers that do not control a large percentage of low-band spectrum. Both Republicans on the commission opposed the rules. Opponents of the plan have argued that restricting AT&T and Verizon from part of the auction would mean lower bids on that spectrum and thus less revenue in the auction, and also that small carriers might eventually sell their spectrum to larger ones anyway. Others have argued that anonymous bidding will mean AT&T and Verizon won't know if they're bidding against each other or smaller carriers, making it difficult to execute a strategy of trying to preclude small carriers from getting any spectrum. For more:
- see the event webpage (webcast available) Related Articles:
FCC commissioner: Plan to restrict competition could doom spectrum auction
Whitepaper warns of FCC restrictions on spectrum auction
Former FCC economist: No good reason to restrict auction Read more about: AT&T, spectrum
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is IBM. |   | Webinar: Enhance success and safety of public events with IBM Smarter Cities software
Large public events bring millions of dollars into your city's economy annually, and help build your reputation. Needless to say, safety of participants and spectators is paramount. Tackle the complex behind-the-scenes planning with IBM software solutions. Register Now! |
> Need GEOINT? There's an app for that, even when disconnected. Article (GCN)
> FirstNet board member Charles Dowd reportedly will retire from NYPD. Article (UrgentComms)
> Introductory call for the Disaster Apps Challenge. Post (DigitalGov blog)
> DISA's push toward a mobility ecosystem. Article (FedTimes)
> DoD's Jonathan Woodson: Telehealth a strategic goal for the military. Article (FierceHealthIT) And Finally… Awakening: New Zealand time-lapse. Video (Vimeo) > Developing for the Internet of Things: Challenges and Opportunities - Wednesday, June 18th, 2pm ET / 11am PT Cisco estimates that 50 billion devices and objects will be connected to the Internet by 2020. Will there be a role for developers in this area? And if so, how can developers position themselves in the months ahead on this nascent but potentially explosive opportunity? Register Today!
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| > Whitepaper: Finding ROI in Document Collaboration Read this Accusoft whitepaper to learn about the factors that make document collaboration more difficult than it should be, and about how to create a collaboration strategy that makes sense for your organization. Download Now! > Video: Enhance success and safety of public events with IBM Smarter Cities software > Whitepaper: 802.11ac in the Enterprise: Technologies and Strategies Download the White Paper "802.11ac in the Enterprise: Technologies and Strategies" to learn from industry expert Craig Mathias about the technologies behind 802.11ac, deployment misconceptions and review steps that every organization should take in getting ready for 802.11ac.
Download today! | |
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