Program: 2011 Utility Telecom Forum (Region 8, 9, 10 Meeting)

Emerald ABCD

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deadlines requiring the “refarming” or “narrowbanding” of Private Land Mobile Radio (PLMR) systems operating in spectrum bands below 512 MHz are approaching quickly. This workshop, hosted by UTC experts, will provide an up–to–date perspective for analyzing and upgrading PLMR systems that must be changed from 25 kHz to 12.5 kHz, but also can be improved to meet future requirements now. Equipment, frequency bands, even licensing methods can be important factors in deciding your utility’s best solution. If you have systems operating in the 150–512 MHz bands and have not yet narrowbanded, attending this session is a must!

Klaus Bender, Director of Standards and Engineering, Utilities Telecom Council Presentation

Emerald ABCD

Many Smart Grid applications are dependent on wireless broadband. Unfortunately, there is no “private broadband allocation” supporting area-wide, point-to-multipoint operations. For the foreseeable future, utilities looking to support Smart Grid applications must look to broadband services providers or deploy wireless systems operating on unlicensed spectrum, at 3.65 GHz, or access auctioned spectrum.

The presentation highlights the FCC’s rules that apply to these options, accessing auctioned spectrum under the FCC’s “Secondary Markets” rules, “market place realities” in acquiring spectrum, and transactional considerations.

Douglas Jarrett, Partner, Keller and Heckman LLP Presentation
Paul Senior, Chief Technical Officer, Airspan Networks, Inc. Presentation

Emerald ABCD

Which scares you more: a million-dollar-a-day fine or a terrorist taking control of your SCADA network? NERC-CIP (North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection) standards are now mandatory, with severe penalties for failure to comply, and more cybersecurity requirements are expected from Congress and regulators. Your utility must implement a layered defense system for true physical and cybersecurity. Learn how—now!

Jonathan Pollet, Founder and Principal Consultant, Red Tiger Security Presentation

Emerald ABCD

The utility telecom and information technology landscape is changing in many ways. Federal regulators and industry standards have created a variety of performance measures, certification criteria and training requirements for this generation of utility workers. There are many certification programs available supporting IT and telecom training; but do they fit the bill and will they meet NERC/FERC requirements for the future. This session will review existing certifications and explore the need to establish new programs with performance measures for employees who work with the critical infrastructure of our utilities.

Thomas K. Dover, President, Dover Telecommunication Services (DTS, Inc.) Presentation

Grand Ballroom

** UTC will hold 1 Prize Drawing during this networking event. Must be present to win!

Emerald ABCD

America became the world leader in technological innovation through the use of voluntary standards and market-driven interoperability. Today, the voluntary nature of standardization is viewed as an impediment to the deployment of Smart Grid networks. As a result, the federal government is on a path to mandate interoperable technologies as FERC adopts NIST Smart Grid standards, including those for communications technologies. Plus this session will review the Priority Action Plan associated with the use of wireless technology for the Smart Grid, the process used to evaluate wireless technologies and the standards under consideration. Examine the total impact on the evolution of the Smart Grid and how it affects your utility.

Klaus Bender, Director of Standards and Engineering, Utilities Telecom Council
Jon Stitzel, CISSP, CISA, Senior Security Consultant – Cyber Security Design & Standards, Burns & McDonnell
Matthew Olson, Burns & McDonnell
Combined Presentation

Emerald ABCD
Treasures B
Treasures C

Meetings of UTCs Rocky Mountain (8), Northwest (9) and Southwest (10) Regions. Discussion will focus on individual regional issues.

**THESE MEETINGS ARE CLOSED TO INDIVIDUALS NOT CONSIDERED CORE MEMBERS OF UTC.

Region 8 includes the following states: Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming

Region 9 includes the following states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington

Region 10 includes the following states: Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii and Nevada

Emerald ABCD

**THIS MEETING IS CLOSED TO INDIVIDUALS NOT CONSIDERED CORE MEMBERS OF UTC.

Emerald ABCD

Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is the future. Yet implementation of an AMI system is a complicated process. The most critical step is to define the functional requirements for an AMI system by combining both hardware and software requirements. The attributes of the system will dictate the cost and capacity of your utility’s project. Specifically, these costs and capacity objectives are based on three distinct sets of requirements – applications, functional elements and engineering specifications. This session will look at each requirement in detail to help provide clarity on the deployment of an AMI system.

Kevin Zamzow, Manager - System Design & Communications, Power System Engineering Presentation

Grand Ballroom

**UTC will hold 3 Prize Drawings during this networking event. Must be present to win!

Emerald ABCD

Find out more about UTC directly from UTC’s leaders. This presentation gives you an insider’s look at the current state of the organization and future plans that directly impact members.

Ron Beck, Network Engineer, Central Lincoln People's Utility District Presentation

Emerald ABCD

Every day, UTCs Legal/Regulatory team represents the telecom and IT interests of energy and water companies on a wide variety of issues. This year’s Legal/Regulatory Update will focus on spectrum issues, infrastructure issues and homeland security issues - UTCs main areas of focus. This presentation is a great opportunity to get an understanding of the issues being decided in Washington that affect your job and how the UTC legal/regulatory team is responding.

Mike Oldak, Vice President & General Counsel, Utilities Telecom Council Presentation

Emerald ABCD

Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a key technology for delivery of IP services. Discover the benefits and applications, get answers to basic technical questions on functionality, and learn the depth and breadth of MPLS solutions. You’ll also get an overview of MPLS applications such as virtual private networks (VPNs); traffic engineering; quality of service (QoS); operations administration and maintenance (OAM); and the security aspects of each solution.

Lynn Hunt, Strategic Industries Solution Specialist, Alcatel-Lucent Presentation Additional Information

Emerald ABCD

Many different fiber optic transport methods provide robust, reliable telecommunications for utilities. The key to successful network architecture lies in finding the combination of technologies that works best for your utility. Join us to explore fiber optic connectivity, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), and Ethernet. Sort through the advances in transport technology and learn to identify the solution that provides the restoration of switching speeds and the reliability you need.

Ron Beck, Network Engineer, Central Lincoln People's Utility District Presentation

Emerald ABCD

**UTC will hold 1 Prize Drawing during this networking event. Must be present to win!