Public Safety Networks LMR and FirstNet Working Together
There is still a lot of confusion out in Public Safety and elected official land about the future of Land Mobile Radio (LMR) as FirstNet is deployed, and there is still the issue of the eleven major metro areas slated to lose the T-Band and their LMR systems if we cannot convince Congress to make some changes to the law. I was happy to see that during the recent webinar held by Mission Critical Magazine, Chester County, PA speakers were questioned as to whether LMR will be replaced by FirstNet, they responded with a resounding NO! (Chester County was the first countywide fire dispatch system I designed and installed in the early 1970s.) However, it seems there is still an issue of spreading the word, not so much to the public safety community but to IT departments and elected and appointed officials responsible for the budgets, both capex and opex, that fund LMR systems.
It is no wonder some people are confused since we keep seeing comments, press releases, and experts talking about how soon Mission Critical Push-To-Talk (MCPTT) is coming to FirstNet, and how some still believe the off-network 3GPP standard known as ProSe will be a factor. However, even the developers of the public safety system in the United Kingdom have realized they won’t be able to provide reliable off-network PTT over LTE. For that reason, they are planning to use Tetra radios with simplex or talk-around. The more the experts talk about the technology issues with Mission Critical PTT, the more they seem to be losing sight of the fact that the technology over the network is only part of the issue. If the network itself is not mission-critical, PTT over the network cannot be mission-critical, even if it is called “Mission Critical PTT” (MCPPT).
It is, I believe, vitally important that those in government who make decisions about funding LMR radio systems, upgrading them, keeping them running and operational understand the dilemma the standards body, labs, and pro-MCPTT folks have created for the public safety community. There have been instances where public safety officials are presenting their next year’s budget and they are questioned by the budget committee about why public safety still needs to invest in LMR technology. The public safety officials usually make a good case for why, but one or more of the budget committee members have heard from technology experts that MCPTT will be real and will be rolled out in 2018. They simply do not understand that every day public safety bets their lives on their communications systems. Read the Entire Blog Here
Sununu decision on emergency responder network due today – The Union Leader
Dec 7 06:10 In New Hampshire’s case, that would mean creating a New Hampshire network with Rivada, one of the unsuccessful bidders that pursued the FirstNet contract to build the network, which went to AT&T. The state already has a tentative contract with Rivada, depending on Sununu’s final decision, which is …
New Hampshire committee conducts final meeting, preparing final report on FirstNet ‘opt-out’ risks … – Urgent Communications
Dec 6 08:20 In October, Sununu established the five-member Opt-Out Review Committee to assess whether the opt-out plan from Rivada Networks to deploy an alternative LTE radio access network (RAN) in the state to be part of FirstNet would be a feasible and sustainable model. After meeting with nationwide …
AT&T Chief Financial Officer Discusses 2018 Priorities at UBS Conference – Cellular News
Dec 6 10:55 AT&T’s other 2018 priorities include building out the FirstNet network – the country’s only communications platform purpose-built with public safety, for public safety. To date, 35 states …
Rivada chases deals with states that opt out of FirstNet – Rethink Research
Dec 6 06:10 When AT&T was awarded the contract to build the FirstNet public safety network, it seemed that the US had finally, after 15 years of disputes and …
FCC rejects calls to delay net neutrality vote – The Hill
Dec 5 20:00 Under Pai’s repeal proposal, the agency would scrap the Obama-era internet rules and cede authority over broadband providers to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). That scenario has some net neutrality supporters worried. The city of New York and advocacy groups said that if a court decides the …
Massive IoT, the new focus of IoT standardization: 5G Americas – Telecom Lead
Dec 7 04:15 Today, Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) is already gaining attention and it is anticipated that cellular-based technologies such as LTE-M (Machine) and Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) will become the leading LPWA standards by 2020. This would allow operators to choose from several Cellular IoT (CIoT) …
Digital communications are revolutionising the railway business – ITWeb
Dec 7 02:15 Then there is LTE’s narrowband component, a low-power, highly dedicated way to add sensors and other IOT systems to the railway without deploying a new wireless network. “It costs billions to maintain all the equipment every year,” Frisch explained.” Just saving a tiny bit of that maintenance cost will …
Homeland Security’s Science & Tech Directorate Joins AWARN Advisory Committee – TV Technology
Dec 6 18:40 Homeland Security joins the FEMA, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, the National Weather Service and the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials, all of which joined the Advisory Committee last summer. The AWARN Alliance, using ATSC 3.0, is working on a system …
Tech can see through walls, based on new research from Duke University – TechRepublic
Dec 6 16:15 Without knowing what the walls were made of, researchers at the North Carolina university were able to see through them with the help of a narrow band of frequencies and a special algorithm, according to a press release. Most technologies in use today need to know the wall materials in order to …
Dish Network founder Charlie Ergen steps down as CEO, hints at Dish offering wireless service – The Denver Post
Dec 6 12:40 But Dish has done very little with its wireless assets, which could be used to stream movies or offer cellphone service to customers. And it’s facing deadlines by the Federal Communications Commission to build something or lose it. A block of 700 MHz licenses it bought in 2008, for example, faces a …
AT&T: Fixed Broadband Has Returned to Growth and We Have 50 Million Locations in Our Sights – Telecompetitor
Dec 6 12:40 As AT&T continues to win contracts to deploy the FirstNet mobile broadband public safety network in individual states, Stephens sees opportunities beyond selling connectivity to first responders. The company expects to also sell to mayors and other government entities, and to layer on smart city …
China telecom bands – Belmont Tandoori
Dec 6 11:15 China Unicom China Mobile China Telecom. Frequency Band of 3GPP LTE TDD mode. 3, China Telecom, 2370 – 2390, 2370 – Cellular networks operate on different frequency bands including the 450 MHz band, 700 MHz band, 800 MHz . 2600 MHz. All numbers and bands in italics are not compatible …
AT&T: Everyone Is Ignoring This, And It Is A Critical Mistake – Seeking Alpha
Dec 5 20:40 33 states and 2 U.S. territories have opted into FirstNet, and we have researched states that have explored opting out and why it is difficult. Verizon is desperately trying to get a seat at the public safety communications table because it recognizes the long-term implications of FirstNet. If this endeavor …
How to build a pan-India broadband Public Protection and Disaster Relief Communications … – Financial Express
Dec 5 17:40 There are examples of ‘public safety over mobile broadband provider’ through a government established entity providing the core network enabling …
A Look at the Internet of Things in 2018: 5 Enterprise Trends to Watch – IoT Evolution World
Dec 5 17:10 LP-WAN technologies, such as Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) are ideal solutions for connectivity and remote monitoring in places that are traditionally …
Telemedicine Could Trump Economic Development for Driving Community Broadband – Government Technology News
Dec 5 15:30 By its recent broadband policy decisions, or intent thereof, the FCC majority has proven itself an adversary of consumers, small businesses and local governments. An increasing number of municipalities, public utilities, co-ops and local ISPs are exploring avenues for getting community-owned or controlled broadband networks. Communities cannot afford to continue to produce yet another feasibility study that just sits on a shelf while stakeholders try to determine what to do next. For the health.
Ajit Pai Doesn’t Want You Talking About Court Ruling That Undermines His Bogus Claim That The FTC Will Protect Consumers – Techdirt Corporate Intelligence
Dec 5 15:05 We’ve noted a few times how the attack on net neutrality and consumer broadband privacy protections are just a small part of a massive lobbyist attempt to remove nearly all oversight of one of the least-competitive and least liked business sectors in America. Industry lobbyists (and the lawmakers and policy folk paid to love them) have made it abundantly clear that the goal is to gut FCC authority over broadband ISPs, then shovel any…
AT&T, Whose Ex-CEO Promised To Wreck Net Neutrality, Insists It Won’t Do Anything To Net … – Techdirt
Dec 5 13:26 AT&T is the latest big broadband player to try to suggest that everyone just calm down a little about this whole thing where the FCC destroys net neutrality. And, sure, some of the reports out there and some of the predictions being made about the impending death of net neutrality are fairly exaggerated.
Rivada teams up with Australian bank in bid to oust AT&T from state-based FirstNet contracts – Capacity Media
Nov 30 09:00 The pair say they have already won a conditional award from Colorado to build a 4G broadband radio access network for public-safety services. …
Scott decides to opt-in to FirstNet broadband plan – WCAX
Nov 30 09:00 MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Vermont Gov. Phil Scott says he’s decided to opt-in to the federal FirstNet plan to deliver a wireless broadband network to the state’s public safety community. A state commission recently recommended that Vermont join the federal contract with AT&T to build a broadband network …
The FCC Should Not Give Broadband Providers the Keys to Your Internet Freedom – Federal Communications Commission
Nov 30 08:16 November 29, 2017 – 1:00 pm Mignon Clyburn | Commissioner This week, millions of Americans returned to work after spending time with family and friends…
FCC Chief Ajit Pai Chides Hollywood, Silicon Valley – NewsFactor
Nov 30 07:00 The head of the Federal Communications Commission defended his plan to undo the country’s net-neutrality rules by bringing the culture wars to telecommunications policy. There has been constant media coverage since Chairman Ajit Pai last week unveiled his plan to gut the Obama-era net neutrality rules, which were meant to keep broadband providers from playing favorites with websites and apps. Tech companies, including Airbnb, Etsy and Twitter, sent him a letter in support of the current rules. H