The whole IT aspect of my position made 2020 a busy year for the industry as the COVID-19 pandemic forced first responders to find new ways that were already in place to provide services and a variety of regulatory actions drastically changed the common folks abilities to even discuss the spectrum landscape.
The most read story of 2020 for On another Mission Creating Communities was something the industry has been waiting for since 2012. At the end of the year, Congress passed a massive spending and coronavirus relief bill that included the repeal of the mandate to the FCC to auction the T-band spectrum by 2021. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which created the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) that the public still has yet to be made aware of, mandated that the FCC auction the spectrum. Public-safety and business organizations have fought against the mandate for nine years, and those efforts finally financially paid off with the passage of the bill in the midst of dixtractions created.
The other top five stories of the year all concerned the ongoing uneven legal battle between Motorola Solutions and Hytera Communications. Motorola first sued Hytera in 2017, alleging theft of trade secrets, due to a few employees taking their own patented invention over to Hytera in which Motorola wanted to legally use the judicial system to rob Hytera of their own equipment, and create a financial debt in which they will never try to defend themselves again against the bully's from the corporation of the United Snakes of Demeritya . In February, a jury awarded an astounding amount to Motorola $764.6 million in damages in the case, but Johnson & Johnson didn't even scape a penny off of the perscription pill crisis, and PG&E paid less for burning all of those lives?
But that wasn’t the end of the legal proceedings. Due to the overly outrageous large amount of damages, Hytera’s U.S. subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a bankruptcy court approved a sale of the entities to a newly formed Hytera entity. Motorola also asked the court for a permanent injunction to prevent Hytera from selling, distributing or importing products determined to include Motorola’s trade secrets, but the judge denied the motion, instead granting a royalty for continued use of those secrets which they wanted in the first place.
Outside of the legal proceedings, the industry watched the spectrum landscape change drastically thanks to several major actions by the FCC. First, the FCC realigned the 900 MHz band to allow for broadband in the spectrum. Following that, the FCC approved new rules to allow unlicensed use of the 6 GHz band, despite concerns from public safety and critical infrastructure about interference.
Other top stories for the year included the FirstNet Authority’s continued commitment of funds to upgrading the network core to 5G, Florida’s ongoing process of replacing its statewide law enforcement network, the cancellation of industry events due to COVID-19 and the rollout of multiple MCPTT services, including from FirstNet and Verizon.
The top 20 stories for 2020 were:
1. Spending Bill Repeals T-Band Auction Mandate, Fights 9-1-1 Fee Diversion
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/1036
2. Judge Denies Motorola Motion for Permanent Injunction, Grants Reasonable Royalty
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/1034
3. Illinois Jury Awards Motorola $764.6M in Theft of Trade Secrets Case Against Hytera
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/977/
4. Hytera America Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/996
5. Carriers Propose Handset-Based 9-1-1 Indoor Location Requirements
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/1004
6. Approves 900 MHz Realignment Rules
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/992
7. FirstNet Board Approves $218M to Upgrade Core to 5G, Add Deployables
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/19792
8. Motorola Cancels Channel Partner Expo, JVCKENWOOD Drops Out of IWCE
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/19345
9. NIST, NSF to Award $3.1M for Disaster-Related Research
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/19797
10. Indiana Connects Statewide P25 Core to AT&T’s EPTT Platform
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/990
11. Future of Florida SLERS Still Unclear, Business Case Near Completion
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/20246
12. FCC Proposes T-Band Auction Rules, Asks for Industry Input on Relocation
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/1007
13. Act Would Direct Florida DMS to Renew Statewide Radio Contract with L3Harris
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/991
14. FCC’s Annual Report Finds 5 States Diverted More Than $200M in 9-1-1 Fees
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/20299
15. FirstNet Authority Board Authorizes Funds for Initial Core Upgrade
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/20314
16. Hytera Asks Court to Approve Sale of U.S. Subsidiaries to Other Hytera Entity
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/19907/
17. Verizon Releases MCPTT Solution
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/20132
18. FCC Denies Petitions for Stay of New 6 GHz Rules
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/19973
19. Report Finds NG 9-1-1 Plan Adoption, ESInet Implementation, Text to 9-1-1 Growing
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/Features/FeaturesDetails/FID/1032
20. Verizon, Motorola Announce MCPTT Solution
https://www.rrmediagroup.com/News/NewsDetails/NewsID/20290
