Public Safety Advocate: T-Band, IWCE, FirstNet
T-Band Call to Action: The T-Band (470-512 MHz) is spectrum used by both the public safety community and business users in 11 metro areas of the United States. When the bill creating FirstNet was passed in 2012, Congress required public safety to “give back” some spectrum in exchange for the 10 MHz of spectrum then known as the D-block adjacent to the 700-MHz spectrum that had been reallocated from wideband (50-KHz) channels. This was to enable public safety to deploy its own nationwide public safety broadband network. Congress decided the T-band would be a perfect giveback since it would be auctioned, once returned, for millions of dollars. Since the bill was passed, the major cities and surrounding areas that make use of this spectrum have been unable to find either the spectrum or the funding to relocate, in a timely fashion, their many radio networks that call this spectrum home. See the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) T-Band report…
IWCE 2018: For the first time in a very long time, IWCE was not held in Las Vegas, but Orlando, which is also a great convention city. However, when you weigh in spring break visitors and flights in and out of the area it can be tricky to plan what you want, and even the TSA pre-check lanes were experiencing long delays processing travelers. Even so, the conference itself was top notch. Perhaps it was because this was the first full IWCE after FirstNet the Authority awarded the contract to AT&T. The mood was upbeat, the sessions I attended and those I was part of all had good crowds, and this year it seems many more people were asking questions after the panels and/or offering up their advice. I always enjoy it when those in the audience ask questions so we can learn about their concerns…
FirstNet: FirstNet was an even more integral part of IWCE this year. There were keynotes, sessions, and more directly related to FirstNet. It was announced at IWCE that FirstNet, the Authority, had given a task order to FirstNet built with AT&T to start the band 14 (FirstNet) spectrum build-out. Task orders for various aspects of the network build-out, operation, training, and more are released by FirstNet the Authority based on milestones reached by FirstNet. So far, FirstNet is running well ahead of what anyone would have guessed because AT&T included not only band 14 but all of its own LTE and upcoming 5G spectrum and deployments… Read the Entire Post Here
MissionCritical Mar 9 10:13
AT&T signed a new task order with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) for building out 700 MHz band 14 in all 56 states and territories. AT&T executives said the carrier has already begun buildout in most states, but the new task order formalizes the next step in AT&T’s year-old agreement with FirstNet to build a nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). read more
MissionCritical Mar 15 10:03
State Security Networks Group Finland was selected as the operator for the mobile broadband service used by the country’s public-safety authorities. The company’s task is to ensure smooth communications for authorities. read more
Urgent Communications Mar 14 10:40
Last March, FirstNet named AT&T as its contractor to build, operate and upgrade FirstNet’s nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). AT&T has expanded the FirstNet concept from a system would operate solely on the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to FirstNet to one that leverage …
RadioResource Media Group Mar 13 17:20
FirstNet recognizes the importance of open standards and competition to deliver the best solution for public safety, said a FirstNet spokeswoman when asked if FirstNet’s contract with AT&T requires two carrier-integrated MCPTT options. As such, AT&T has committed to providing options for MCPTT, …
RadioResource Media Group Mar 13 15:35
In addition, Sprint agreed to correct any interference caused by its LTE deployment to public-safety operations. Last year, the FCC released new rules for 800 MHz cellular services, adopting new power limits, and held a workshop to address how the rules will likely affect public-safety networks.
FierceWireless Mar 13 07:50
Verizon and AT&T are in the midst of rolling out a host of wireless technologies specifically designed for public-safety users like police, firefighters and othersand both are claiming that they are best positioned to address the unique needs of this market. This brewing battle over the public-safety market …
PR Web Mar 12 04:20
ESChat’s secure Push-to-Talk application, is available on FirstNet the country’s first and only nationwide public safety communications platform …
RCR Wireless News Mar 9 11:55
The user devices range from in-vehicle modems to smartphones. The carrier plans to add Band 14 coverage to about one-third of its cell sites this year, and devices with Band 14 capabilities are already beginning to emerge. Those include both devices for public safety specifically, such as Sonim’s two …
RCR Wireless News Mar 9 11:00
Stephens said the simultaneous deployment of carrier aggregation, 4X4 MIMO and other technologies will add tremendous depth, coverage and speed to our network. If we can build efficiently, we’ll spend more money up front to get it done. We’ll invest more earlier as long as we can do it efficiently. …
SYS-CON Media Mar 8 10:20
FirstNet is the country’s first and only nationwide public safety communications platform dedicated to first responders. Built with AT&T*, in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority, FirstNet is bringing public safety a reliable and always-on way to connect to the tools they need …
MissionCritical Mar 15 10:03
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International announced the recipients of its 2018 Public Safety Communications Leadership in Policy Awards. The recipients will be honored during APCO’s Annual Public Safety Communications Leadership in Policy Awards Dinner May 1 in Arlington, Virginia. read more
FierceTelecom Mar 14 10:45
Yesterday the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau posted its report (PDF) on the Level 3 outage. The bureau administers the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) and conducts investigations into service disruptions. Its summary of the error points to a decidedly pedestrian source:.
Seeking Alpha Mar 14 07:50
The risk of technological obsolesce is often overstated. Positive catalysts are on the horizon for 2018. Network CapEx spending is expected to increase 10% this year, boosted by the rollout of FirstNet, a cellular-based public safety network. The pendulum of power in the telecommunications sector favors …
Phone Arena Mar 13 10:35
Verizon’s moves to counter each FirstNet element offered by AT&T help give its large base of public-safety accounts reasons to delay a shift away to FirstNet. The future, however, will be determined primarily by requirements to access applications limited to operation on the FirstNet core network.
FederalNewsRadio.com Mar 13 08:45
The new broadband network promises simultaneous transmission of video and other data, such as building or street layouts, detail location data, that can help improve …
Proactive Investors Australia Mar 13 05:50
Sky and Space Global’s Pearls constellation mission is expected to have circa 200 autonomous communication nanosatellites in orbits by 2020, giving equatorial coverage of the Earth. The company is aiming to provide narrowband communication services across large parts of Asia, Central Africa and …
Intellectual Property Watch Mar 13 02:30
US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information David Redl today weighed in on the debate over changes to the storage and public display of personal information of domain name registrants at the meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) …
RCR Wireless News Mar 12 11:50
ORLANDO, Fla.The battle over public safety wireless customers has been joined. At this year’s International Wireless Communications Expo, Verizon defended its position as the market leader in providing service to first responders, while AT&T and partner FirstNet touted the potential and innovation …
4 Traders Mar 10 22:20
FirstNet has issued the official task order to AT&T, giving the contractor the green light to build the nationwide public-safety broadband network , FirstNet CEO Mike Poth announced yesterday…
ArsTechnica: Infinite Loop Mar 10 07:00
Wave Broadband paid Comcast millions and won’t get refund; FCC rejects complaint.
FierceTelecom Mar 9 21:15
… for 3.5 GHz spectrumincluding a hybrid approach that allows large license sizes in urban areaswill enable them to expand their rural broadband deployments further. In a joint FCC filing (PDF), these providers, which are leveraging CAF-II funding to provide 10/1 Mbps rural broadband services, …
Sierra Wireless Mar 9 12:50
Now that all 50 states, 5 U.S. territories and Washington, D.C. have opted in to FirstNet, agencies across the country are trying to determine how their communications network, and infrastructure needs to change in order to take advantage of the new Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network.