Blogs

7-12-18   For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, you may be shocked at what I am about to say: Thank you to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, the Commission) for moving forward on its proceeding to make more efficient use of the 4.9 GHz spectrum band. For those who may be reading this blog for the first time, the FCC is often at odds with utilities' critical communications needs, particularly related to its spectrum policy, and therefore, my views of many of the FCC’s actions are, shall we say, lacking in positive feelings. But in this instance, I am hopeful that the FCC’s Sixth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) ...

06.27.18 Foundational Fairness My oldest daughter, Emma, is attending her first “away camp” this week. It’s going surprisingly well given the texts and pictures we’ve seen from the chaperones. I admit to having some mixed feelings – I miss Emma being home, but at the same time I am so excited for her to have this incredible experience and meet some potentially lifelong friends. Having just completed fourth grade, she is also still learning about how to treat others in a group dynamic (and how to stand up for herself when others may not be treating her well) – this camp is perfect for that type of learning given its mission and the input of older counselors ...

I would like to invite you to participate in an event that I have specially prepared for our community of professionals. It is the Live Webinar NETWORK INVENTORY MANAGEMENT - Empower your sales team to have analytical insights, deliver customized networks proposals and convert more leads into customers. It will take place on   Thursday, February 22th 12pm PST | 2pm CST | 3pm EST  The event is online, live and free. The main focus will be on how to increase the speed in the elaboration of proposals and the closing of new businesses but we'll also I will also give fundamental advice for the reduction of planning, construction, operation ...

EnergyWire's Peter Behr attended Software and Supply Chain Assurance (SSCA) Working Groups meeting and wrote about what he heard: UL working to create certifications for Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and UTC's Cyber Supply Chain Risk Management For Utilities — Roadmap For Implementation ( http://www.utc.org/publication-alert/cyber-supply-chain-risk-management-utilities-%E2%80%94-roadmap-implementation ). Pete's article can be found at http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2015/06/09/stories/1060019875 . #Cybersecurity #SupplyChain #riskassessmen

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the final version of guidance for Industrial Control System (ICS) Security. This is the Revision 2 of the document that was preceded by a release of two drafts for public comment. NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-82 is an almost 250-page document that provides a thorough overview of ICSs and how ICSs are different for IT systems, as well as a variety of considerations for ICS security. The document defines ICS as including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, Distributed Control Systems (DCS), and other control system configurations such as Programmable Logic Controllers ...

UTC was on hand at the FCC’s Workshop on E-Rate as representatives from the FCC and from educational institutions and organizations, as well as some communications service providers provided their perspectives on how the program is promoting broadband access to schools and libraries. Among the panelists during a session on “Statewide and Regional Case Studies”, John Gillispie, Executive Director, Missouri Research and Education Network went out of his way to repeatedly praise the services provided by Sho-Me Technologies, a subsidiary of Sho-Me Power, which was the only bidder to respond to the RFP that MREN put out for bid in December of 2013 for 243 sites. ...

The Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announced that it is offering the incumbent price cap carriers $1.675 billion annually for six years (2015-2020) to deploy rural broadband. The carriers have until August 27, 2015 to decide whether to accept the offers on a state-by-state basis. They must commit to offering broadband all across their service territory in each state. If they accept the money, the census blocks that they commit to serving will be taken off the table and will not be open for competitive bidding during a reverse auction that is expected to take place later this year or early next year for access to CAF funding in unserved ...

I get asked this question a lot by others in the Telecom industry and by recent graduates, what training and further education is pertinent once in the professional industry of Telecommunications? In today's atmosphere of ever changing technology it is difficult to ascertain what training and education pertains. Our industry is has been moving in the IP direction for some time and many who have been in the industry are still trying to catch up with this technology. What would be some non-vendor specific training that would help professionals, like myself, gain the edge on these ever changing technologies like IP, MPLS, CoE, etc

In the latest in a series of setbacks for an early deployment of the 700 MHz Public Safety Broadband Network in Los Angeles, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a statement last week that it was suspending further construction of the network. This announcement was spurred by an earlier decision by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles City Council, which voted to suspend further constriction, including the construction of cell sites on fire stations and police stations, which created a firestorm of opposition from the union for the firefighters who are concerned about the health effects of RF ...

This week, the Senate Intelligence Committee passed the "Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act" by a vote of 14-1. This is good news for utilities, because the bill would make it easier for them to share cyber information with the government and it would protect them from liability. The actual text of the bill was not available, but the bill reportedly directs sharing of classified and unclassified data with the private sector; authorizes private entities to monitor networks for customers for cybersecurity purposes, and to monitor networks with protections from liability; requires the Department of ...