If granted priority access to the nationwide public safety broadband network, utilities could bring resources and funding to the initial construction of the network, said a FirstNet blog post about the Ohio Initial Consultation meeting. Utility providers serve a critical public safety function and would make excellent partners and users on the NPSBN, it said. Another case that officials discussed at the meeting was the Ebola incident in Ohio in 2014. To manage the incident, public safety personnel relied heavily on phone calls, text messaging, emails, reverse 911 alerts and activation of the emergency operations center, it said. The chief information officer for Akron envisions leveraging FirstNet to improve response capabilities in similar situations, FirstNet said. He highlighted three potential capabilities: provisioning devices based on geo-fencing and credentialing; a FirstNet file-sharing app with only the most up-to-date and correct information and documents; and a virtual emergency operations center with videoconferencing, conference calling and screen sharing, it said.

Signing AB-57 will help alleviate delay in approving applications to site new wireless facilities and renew permits for existing facilities, PCIA said in a letter to California Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The bill says a collocation or siting application for a wireless telecom facility is deemed approved if the city or county fails to approve or disapprove the application within the reasonable time periods specified in applicable decisions of the FCC, all required public notices have been provided regarding the application, and the applicant provided a notice to the city or county that the reasonable time period has elapsed, the California State Legislature's website said. By speeding up the approval of the facilities, industry and government can ensure that Californians have access to robust mobile broadband, PCIA wrote Brown.

Phone systems are back up in Summit Health facilities in Pennsylvania after an outage that began on Thursday, said a news release from the health system Friday. Waynesboro Hospital and 15 other Summit Health buildings were affected by the outage, it said. No cause has been identified, the health system said.

California Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) decision to veto a proposed drone law was applauded by CEA and the Small UAV Coalition (see 1509100008). The bill would have “dramatically inhibited UAV industry growth without delivering meaningful consumer privacy protections,” said the coalition in a news release Thursday. Vetoing the bill means drones and other unmanned aircraft can continue to revolutionize a “wide array of consumer and commercial activities, creating new businesses and jobs and providing life-changing solutions,” said CEA CEO Gary Shapiro in a news release Thursday.

Every city needs its own broadband plan, said Blair Levin, of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, during the NATOA conference in San Diego Friday. He said the debate between private interests over how unlicensed bands should be regulated is “way too important” not to involve cities. While some see the country’s communications system as a triumph of free-market forces, the telco, cable and wireless networks all required government actions to make the economics viable, providing access to rights of ways and poles, access to the programming created by others, construction permitting, access to spectrum, and much more, he said. Levin also said the most important “new commons” to develop in this era is broadband, with its networks, devices and applications. Making a broadband plan for each city should start from an analysis of where market forces are heading, he said. And in those plans, the communities must assess where they fit in the current market, Levin said. He said every plan he has seen is different but the vision remains the same: “Ubiquitous, affordable, abundant bandwidth, with everyone on and using the platform to improve public services.” To achieve that vision, the cities must drive fiber deeper, use spectrum more efficiently, get everyone on, and create applications and re-imagine government processes to use the platform to improve the delivery of public goods and services, he said. That same vision and those four strategies apply to cities, but the tactics for achieving that vision are diverse, he said. Levin also addressed the digital divide but mentioned one that “no one has noticed,” the digital divide between Starkville, Mississippi, and such cities as New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington, and well-off suburbs like Beverly Hills, California, Scarsdale, New York, and Bethesda, Maryland. Starkville residents have not one but two options to purchase an affordable gigabit, which is two more options than the residents have in those large cities and wealthy suburbs, he said.

Honolulu Police Department officials will implement Smart911, a free national public safety service that allows residents to provide the information dispatchers need, before an emergency happens, said a news release from Smart911. Honolulu is the first city in the state to use the system, the release said. Smart911 enables citizens to create a free safety profile online that can include any information about their households that they want 911 to have in an emergency, the release said. When a resident makes an emergency call, that person's safety profile is automatically displayed to the 911 call taker, "allowing them to send the right response teams to the right location with the right information," it said. Smart911 is available in 40 states and more than 1,500 municipalities, the release said. Smart911 data is private and secure, and is used only for emergency responses and available in the event of an emergency call, the release said.

The broadband landscape is changing for local governments, said Gigi Sohn, counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, during the NATOA conference in San Diego Wednesday. The FCC is making its own changes to reflect changing conditions, she said, according to prepared remarks. Sohn cited pre-emption of restrictions on municipal broadband in Tennessee and North Carolina, the Connect America Fund Phase II commitment to pay $1.5 billion annually over the next six years, and the modernization of the Lifeline program as ways the FCC is making changes to keep up. During this change, the FCC wants to work with NATOA to remove barriers to broadband deployment, spur competition and ensure access for all, Sohn said. She said the future isn't in cable, but rather in broadband, which is good for citizens because it facilitates education, healthcare, economic empowerment, good government and civic participation. Rather than wait for incumbent ISPs to build the network cities want and need, Sohn said NATOA members can take control of their own broadband futures. This new model for local governments looks to benefit their citizens through externalities, not direct revenue, she said.

The California Broadband Council will discuss the state's first responder network, telehealth network and library system, and will get a tribal update at a meeting Tuesday, said the agenda. The council is made up of nine people and chaired by state Chief Information Officer Carlos Ramos. It was formed in 2010 to expand broadband deployment and eliminate the digital divide. The 9:30 a.m. meeting is at UC Riverside, 900 University Ave., Room 1113 INTS Building, Riverside, California.

PocketiNet Communications selected Huawei for rolling out its fiber-to-the-home initiative to bring ultra-fast gigabit Internet -- the first gigabit rural network in the state -- to Walla Walla, Washington, Huawei said in a news release. PocketiNet is a locally owned and operated ISP that serves 17 markets in the Columbia Basin region in Washington. The gigabit initiative is being launched in the U.S. without state or federal funding, the release said. The network will bring Internet to more than 15,000 homes and businesses in the Walla Walla area in a multiyear build-out, it said. PocketiNet expects to complete initial deployments of the network in 12-15 months, with a combination of underground and overhead fiber, it said.

Tests of the New York City subway's Transit Wireless network show riders of the Q line receive the best overall service on mobile phones, said Rhode & Schwarz in a Wednesday news release. Global Wireless Solutions tested 67 subway stations in the city from June to July, using Rhode & Schwarz test equipment, to analyze the program, the release said. The test found that the 4 line was by far the worst performing line for Wi-Fi connections, with just two out of 22 stations on the line (9 percent) having Wi-Fi available. Testing found that six of the sites had no detectable Wi-Fi signal, it said. New York City and Transit Wireless anticipate a complete rollout of Wi-Fi services to all 279 stations making up the city's subway system by 2017, it said.