Police statistics show that too many Western Australian prospectors are still not carrying personal locator beacons, with none of the prospectors targeted in the nine WA land searches since January 2014 having them. [ + ]

Firelink extends Airwave contract, Norway chooses Motorola Wave technology, Canada to hold third spectrum auction, Brazilian army wants 700 MHz, US$1m fine for fake emergency alert and underground LTE tests in Hannover. [ + ]

St John Ambulance in Australia is replacing its UHF portable and mobile radios with P25-ready Simoco SRP9170 portable and SRM9030 mobile radios. [ + ]

Tait Communications will continue to provide critical communications support to Transport for London's (TfL) TaitNet MPT trunked network for the next five years, having been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract extension. [ + ]

WA rail radio network completed, backlash against FCC closures, Los Angeles mandates quake-proof radio towers, military comms set to explode, dual certification microwave system.

Simoco Group and North American partner Beltronics have teamed up to deliver a two-channel, three-site simulcast system for public safety services in several counties in Massachusetts, US. [ + ]

Codan Radio Communications, under a prime contract awarded to By Light Professional IT Services, has announced a contract award from the US Department of Veterans Affairs for the implementation of its nationwide emergency HF radio network. [ + ]

Airwave system goes down in London, Icom NZ and Rohde & Schwarz win awards, Airbus delivers satcoms to French, and FCC looking at Wi-Fi, LTE shared use issues. [ + ]

The ACMA and New South Wales Fair Trading have warned consumers about the use of unlicensed mobile phone repeaters, with Fair Trading serving a cease-and-desist order on the largest internet supplier of repeaters, Mobile Repeaters Australia (MRA). [ + ]

Agencies and organisations have rushed satellite communications equipment to Nepal to assist emergency workers in their rescue and relief efforts following the devastating earthquake on 25 April. [ + ]

Tait Communications has been selected by Alliant Energy Corporation, a midwest US energy company, to deploy a 122-site DMR Tier 3 system - the largest to be rolled out in North America. [ + ]

The birthplace of radio lives on, ACMA lowers amateur licence fees, German spectrum auction attracts three bidders, radios found to be useless inside, DARPA calls for undersea communications innovations and Oregon holds emergency comms exercise. [ + ]

The ACMA has advised all 400 MHz licensees that licence processing will be suspended from 11-26 May. Renewals that fall due during this period should be paid beforehand.

The Department of Defence demolished the Omega communication tower on the former Naval Transmission Site at Darriman, Victoria, on 22 April. [ + ]

Comms users collide over vehicle frequencies, FM on your phone, radios for the community, carrier-hosted P25 service, Norway to ditch FM, and how safe is encryption? [ + ]