Friday fragments - critical comms news for 24 April

A round-up of the week’s critical communications and public safety radio news for Friday, 24 April 2015.

Carrier-hosted P25 service. US company Telecommunication Properties (TPI) has received regulatory approval from the FCC to build, own and operate a multichannel wide-area 800 MHz P25 overlay network covering most of North Texas, which will be used to deliver a variety of hosted P25 network services to governmental agencies, first responders and other public safety agencies. “Municipalities and public safety network operations are simplified through a hosted solution that turns CAPEX, management, maintenance and operational burdens into a predictable OPEX service, all while increasing network reliability,” said TPI President Jimmy Chiles.

No FM on your phone? Many smartphone users don’t realise that their devices can receive FM radio. That’s because some sellers ensure the FM chip is disabled. They say it’s because people don’t want to listen to FM, while cynics say the sellers just want to make more money through data streaming. But others are saying the lack of radio means those users can’t access emergency public broadcasting during emergencies.

Norway to ditch FM. Norway is aiming to switch off FM radio broadcasts by 2017. Over half of the population (56%) currently listens to Digital Audio Broadcast stations.

Radios for the community. A program is underway in Jamaica to equip and train 360 community volunteers in emergency telecommunications. Funded by CA$231,000 from the Canadian Department for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, the project will cover 10 communities that have experienced natural disasters in the past.

How safe is encryption? Just like any other data network, IP-based digital radio systems need to be protected from prying eyes. Ron Steinfeld, a senior lecturer in information technology at Monash University, has written an interesting primer on encryption and cryptography for The Conversation.

Comms users collide over frequencies. US officials will be holding meetings over the next few months about the possibility of opening up some of the 5.9 GHz band presently reserved for vehicle-to-vehicle comms. The automobile industry has been dead against letting others have access, but it might have no choice - legislation passed in 2012 requires the FCC and the NTIA to look into whether the band is suitable for unlicensed use.