Public Safety Devices As FirstNet moves forward with more than twenty opt-ins, and the network begins to take shape, questions remain about the types of devices that will be needed and wanted by the public safety community. The original vison put forth by many of us working on the project prior to Congress allocating the spectrum or creating FirstNet is that at some point a single device would be carried by all first responders to access both broadband and Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems. Why burden those who already carry a belt full of gear with yet another device? However, during recent conversations with some of those advocating for public safety broadband and with many of today’s first responders, it appears as though the vision of one person, one device may not always be the best choice. It is clear that we will start with existing land mobile radio portables, smartphones, and tablets. AT&T has made it simple for opt-in states.

An agency simply signs up and its users receive new Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for their existing smartphones (if they are compatible with AT&T’s spectrum). Over time, as AT&T builds out FirstNet Band 14, new devices can be purchased. There are already several offerings on the market, specifically from Sonim, that meet the need for hardened, long battery life devices and more are coming from Motorola, Harris, Tait, JVCKenwood, and others. LMR vendors are working on cross-over devices or devices that communicate back-and forth between LMR and LTE networks.

Discussions I have had indicate more than ever that there will need to be multiple types of devices, offering multiple types of services or combinations of services. One of the issues with this, of course, is that vendors do not like to build a few each of many different types of devices and would rather build many of one type. One of the reasons LMR radios are so expensive is that there are so many different radios needed for different portions of the LMR spectrum that production costs remain high. Read the Entire Blog Here

Senators Blast The FCC For Weakening The Definition Of Broadband To Try And Hide The Industry’s Lack Of Real Competition – Techdirt Corporate Intelligence Sep  8 15:05 Back in 2015, the FCC raised the standard definition of broadband from 4 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, to an arguably-more-modern 25 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up. Of course the uncompetitive broadband industry (and the lawmakers who adore them) subsequently threw a collective hissy fit about the change, because they realized a higher bar would only highlight their failure to deliver next-generation broadband to vast swaths of America. And highlight it did: by this…

Vermont Releases RFP for Statewide LTE RAN – MissionCritical Sep  8 10:03 The Vermont Office of Purchasing & Contracting, on behalf of the Department of Public Safety (DPS), is soliciting proposals for an alternative solution to the nationwide offering of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). Proposals are sought from qualified firms to build, operate and maintain a statewide radio access network (RAN) to connect to and be fully interoperable with the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). read more

AT and T Exec Backtracks on Public Safety Grade Comments – MissionCritical Sep  8 10:03 Chris Sambar, AT&T senior vice president, apologized for comments he made “that may have been misleading” regarding a definition of public safety grade for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) nationwide public-safety broadband network. read more

Ed Davis: FirstNet crucial to Georgia’s public safety – Savannah Morning News Sep  8 03:30 The gap in communications between different public safety departments and agencies has continued to hamstring response efforts to large natural …

First responders preparing for Irma to arrive – Hendersonville Lightning Sep  8 00:10 By Bill Moss, Published: September 7, 2017. Although they acknowledge the hurricane path could change, Henderson County emergency managers …

20 States, Territories Accept FirstNet Public Safety Network Plan – 4 Traders Sep  7 22:45 AT&T has unveiled that a total of 20 U.S. states and territories have already opted into the First Responder Network Authoritys plan for a nationwide …

FCC Activates DIRS in Response to Hurricane Irma – TV Technology Sep  7 17:35 Already, however, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC has activated the Disaster Information Reporting System for counties in …

New Hampshire hopes to make ‘opt-in/opt-out’ recommendation to governor by early October – Urgent Communications Sep  7 17:35 … for the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) to have a carrier partnersomething that vendors in opt-out states also would need.

A third of the country has signed on to AT&T’s network for first responders – MassHighTech Sep  7 17:00 Twenty states and territories have opted into AT&T’s plan to build a nationwide network for first responders through the FirstNet Authority, the company said this month. The contract for the network, which gives first responders a priority lane for communication during crises or other times of high traffic, was awarded to AT&T in March. Under the terms, the federally funded FirstNet Authority will pay $6.5 billion toward the buildout of the network. AT&T (NYSE: T) agrees to pay $40 billion to…

5G will transform enterprises: Ericsson CTO – Hindu Business Line Sep  8 13:10 We are in a phase now where there is much focus on what we do on IoT access, what we do with narrow band IoT or CAT M. These are really …

Verizon reinforces its commitment to supporting public safety at APCO Conference – Cellular News Sep  8 09:10 “The work you do is invaluable, not only to our public safety agencies and our brave first responders, but also to the communities they serve,” he said.

FCC asks about the state of mobile broadband. Congress flips out. – American Enterprise Institute Sep  8 07:15 Mobile broadband is at least a partial substitute for traditional fixed broadband, …

Digitimes Research: 79GHz to replace 24GHz for automotive millimeter radar sensors – Digitimes Sep  8 05:25 Since narrowband 24GHz is relatively inferior in range detection and recognition of objects, and use of ultra wideband 24GHz will expire in 2022, …

Global Narrowband IoT Market: Attributes of Efficiency and Efficacy for Municipal Applications … – Markets Insider Sep  7 17:50 Of them, the segment of smart metering holds the leading share in the market …

Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) Market to be backed by its Growing Applications in the Coming Years – MarketPRNews Sep  7 17:35 Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) Market to be backed by its Growing Applications in the Coming Years · Narrowband Internet-of-Things (IoT) Chipset Market …

Mike Maiorana, addressing APCO Conference, reinforces Verizon’s commitment to supporting public safety – Verizon Wireless Sep  7 15:04

Parsec Technologies Announces New Ruggedized External Antennas For In-Vehicle, Public … – Markets Insider Sep  7 06:25 … for in-vehicle, public safety, fleet management and field services applications. Parsec PRO Series are also optimized for FirstNet, the First Responders Network of critical infrastructure communications in the 700MHz spectrum.

FCC taps the brakes on fudging US broadband speed amid senator fury – The Register Sep  7 06:00 Tell me again why slower internet is a good thing? America’s comms watchdog has extended a comment period on a proposal to downgrade the definition of broadband to a slower speed.…