Technology Sectors
Riding the commercial technology wave
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Paul May |
In May 2010, the Federal Communications Commission approved the use of 700 MHz spectrum for public safety broadband networks based on commercial, fourth-generation (4G) cellular technology.
The FCC had previously set aside 10 MHz of public safety spectrum for private wireless broadband networks, but has delayed issuing waivers for network build-outs on that spectrum. The Commission wanted to determine which technology would best support its vision of an interoperable, nationwide first responder broadband network. Mandating a specific technology was a considerable change from “normal” policy at the FCC.
Traditionally, the FCC did not select wireless technologies for public safety; it usually allowed individual agencies to determine the technology that best supported their users’ missions. While this practice may have allowed these individual agencies to make the best possible choice for their own use, the end result is the existence of numerous instances of fragmented, non-interoperable public safety networks, hindering communications between neighboring organizations.
Because the failure of interoperability during catastrophic events had become a national issue, the FCC decided that a nationwide public safety network would be built with a single technology, allowing first responders to roam anywhere and be able to communicate with each other, and back to their home agencies.
The technology the FCC chose, Long Term Evolution, or LTE, is a 4G cellular technology that cellular carriers are currently deploying. The benefits of choosing LTE technology for public safety communications are numerous. Carriers are deploying the technology globally and will eventually provide services to billions of cellular subscribers worldwide. Dozens of companies are developing LTE network infrastructure, ensuring a competitive marketplace and a ready supply of evolutionary products for long-term network support. These companies, and the hundreds who make subscriber equipment, are investing billions of dollars in research and development, fueling a frenetic pace of product introductions and performance improvements. Much like Wi-Fi, LTE will be everywhere, and this makes it the right choice for public safety broadband networks.
Ironically, however, the popularity of LTE in the commercial marketplace has some negative implications for public safety. Because the LTE standards are focused on meeting the needs of the global commercial cellular users, public safety has had little input in development of specialized LTE features to support mission-critical communications. Off-the-shelf LTE provides security, encryption, priority, access control and quality of service -- all critical features necessary to provide and manage critical communications, especially during catastrophic situations. But public safety also needs push-to-talk (PTT) voice services, group video services and off-network broadband services in areas where the fixed LTE network doesn’t provide coverage. Because these specialized services are not broadly marketable to the commercial cellular carriers, the standards bodies have put the development of public safety services on the back burner.
Numerous companies that traditionally supply Land Mobile Radio (LMR) communications to public safety have already come forward with LTE solutions tailored to first responders. Agencies procuring LTE networks should be careful to determine that the offerings are, in fact, truly standards-based LTE, and without public safety feature enhancements based on proprietary implementations.
For example, it is possible to deliver an LTE standards-compliant network that provides mission-critical PTT services as an application running over that network. Interoperability of that PTT application requires standardization of the application, not the LTE technology, and this standardization can be carried out by standards bodies that cater to public safety requirements. By not relying on cellular standards development organizations to modify LTE for public safety requirements, and instead using standardized applications running over standard LTE technology, public safety can accomplish its goals of interoperable mission-critical broadband communications.
Paul May is a system marketing manager for Harris PSPC. He can be reached at:
