Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 41 / Wednesday, March 3, 2010 / Notices 9587 

2Public Law No: 111–4. 

3 Implementing a Nationwide, Broadband, 

Interoperable Public Safety Network in the 700 

MHz Band, FCC WT Docket No. 06–150, PS Docket 

No. 06–229. 

effective cross-agency radio 

communications, due mainly to 

incompatible systems and noncontiguous spectrum assignments. But 

newly enacted Congressional 

legislation 2 and FCC Rulings 3 have 

created broadband spectrum cleared by 

the Digital Television (DTV) transition 

available to local, state and tribal public 

safety agencies (i.e. fire, police, 

emergency medical services), allowing 

for a unified system that would foster 

nationwide roaming and 

interoperability. Though this spectrum 

will provide ample opportunity for the 

build-out of next-generation 

communications systems that could 

achieve true interoperability for public 

safety, no government or independent 

laboratory facilities exist in the United 

States to test and demonstrate the 

behaviors of this yet-to-be-deployed 700 

MHz network and the applications that 

could run on top of it. 

To address this critical gap, the 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST), through its Public 

Safety Communications Research 

(PSCR) program, will begin building a 

Public Safety Broadband Demonstration 

Network. This Demonstration Network 

will allow NIST, manufacturers and 

public safety users a site for the early 

deployment of their systems in order to 

evaluate the Third Generation 

Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term 

Evolution (LTE) standard, in a multivendor environment and create 

integration opportunities for 

commercial service providers. 

Public Safety Broadband 

Demonstration Network 

The goal of this project is to 

demonstrate and evaluate the behaviors 

of 3GPP LTE technology deployed in the 

700 MHz bands, specific to the needs of 

public safety agencies. NIST has 

developed an initial network design that 

must be evaluated by vendors, service 

providers, academia, and other 

stakeholders to ensure that it can 

support all test cases. In this project, 

emergency responders, vendors, 

carriers, academia and other 

stakeholders will have the opportunity 

to participate in the development, test 

planning and network design evaluation 

of the Demonstration Network system. 

Each participant may provide 

individual input to NIST; no consensus 

advice will be provided. Public Safety 

users will see how these broadband 

systems will function and determine 

through hands-on experience how the 

systems meet their unique needs. 

Features and system performance that 

commercial carriers may not be testing 

for commercial purposes, but that are of 

importance to public safety, will be a 

primary area of assessing public safety 

user requirements within the 3GPP LTE 

standard. This will include multicast/ 

broadcast capabilities, priority access, 

pre-emption, SMS, and voice. Vendors 

who are developing LTE equipment 

(Band Class 14) are eligible to 

participate in this project. 

On or before April 30, 2010, 

interested parties wishing to participate 

in the Demonstration Network should 

submit to the e-mail address in the 

ADDRESSES section, their name, address, 

phone number, and an e-mail address. 

After receiving all submissions, NIST 

may contact any party that submitted an 

expression of interest to follow-up on 

how its technology would meet the 

above evaluation criteria. As part of the 

Demonstration Network project, NIST 

will enter into Cooperative Research 

and Development Agreements 

(CRADAs) with participating equipment 

stakeholders. 

The following information details the 

technical specifications of the 

Demonstration Network as it relates to 

radio frequency and the ability to 

transmit over the air. 

Demonstration Network Technology: 

Equipment utilizing minimum 3GPP 

LTE Release 8, Evolved Packet Core 

(EPC) and IP Multimedia System (IMS). 

Other air interfaces may be considered. 

Demonstration Network Frequency 

Band: 758–768 MHz & 788–798 MHz 

(3GPP Band Class 14) Authorization to 

transmit over-the-air for the 

Demonstration Network: Via a request 

for FCC Special Temporary Authority 

(STA) for Part 90 and/or Part 27. 

Phases for Stakeholder Participation: 

The Demonstration Network will have 

the following three major phases for 

stakeholder participation: 

Phase 1—Network and Test Planning: 

Stakeholders will be involved in 

creating a common test plan for all 

vendors and creating a common 

network deployment and coverage 

scheme. 

Phase 2—Deployment: Equipment is 

scheduled for delivery to site locations. 

Coverage, network planning, site 

preparation completed. Installation and 

commissioning takes place. 

Phase 3—Testing and Demonstrations: 

Test plan execution takes place. This 

may be staggered into sub-phases as 

equipment and features become 

available. Network is available to 

perform system level testing and 

demonstrations on. 

Equipment Disposition: Stakeholder 

equipment used for the demonstration 

network will be returned to the 

stakeholders, at their expense, after the 

completion of the project or upon 

withdrawal from the project. 

Demonstration Network Timeline: 

This demonstration network is currently 

in the preliminary planning stages and 

is expected to go live in mid 2010. 

Webinar NIST intends to hold a 

webinar meeting on March 15, 2010 

webinar to bring together interested 

stakeholders (vendors, carriers, public 

safety practitioners, academics) to 

specifically discuss how to move 

forward on the Demonstration Network 

and to establish the focus and goals of 

the project. There is no charge for 

participation in the meeting. The 

registration deadline is 5 p.m. Mountain 

Time on March 12, 2010. Please submit 

your name, email address and phone 

number to 700MHz@its.bldrdoc.gov and 

you will be provided with the logistics 

for the webinar meeting. 

Dated: February 26, 2010. 

Marc G. Stanley, 

Acting Deputy Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4421 Filed 3–2–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS 

Notice of Meeting 

The next meeting of the U.S. 

Commission of Fine Arts is scheduled 

for 18 March 2010, at 10 a.m. in the 

Commission offices at the National 

Building Museum, Suite 312, Judiciary 

Square, 401 F Street, NW., Washington 

DC, 20001–2728. Items of discussion 

may include buildings, parks and 

memorials. 

Draft agendas and additional 

information regarding the Commission 

are available on our Web site: http:// 

www.cfa.gov. Inquiries regarding the 

agenda and requests to submit written 

or oral statements should be addressed 

to Thomas Luebke, Secretary, U.S. 

Commission of Fine Arts, at the above 

address; by e-mailing staff@cfa.gov; or 

by calling 202–504–2200. Individuals 

requiring sign language interpretation 

for the hearing impaired should contact 

the Secretary at least 10 days before the 

meeting date. 

Dated: February 24, 2010 in Washington 

DC. 

Thomas Luebke, 

AIA Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–4324 Filed 3–2–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6330–01–M 

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