The European Telecommunications Standards Institute’s (ETSI) Industry Specification Group on Encrypted Traffic Integration (ISG ETI) concluded the early part of its work, by identifying problems arising from pervasive encrypted traffic in communications networks. (Mission Critical Communications 01/09/2021).
AT&T became the latest operator to look to the sky to extend the reach of its broadband network, teaming with OneWeb to serve enterprise and government customers in remote locations outside of its fiber footprint. (Fierce Telecom Sep 8/09/2021).
Samsung this week announced a new solution that meets the 3GPP standard for Land Mobile Radio Interworking Function (LMR-IWF), which is designed to let public-safety LTE systems interoperate with P25 and other types of LMR networks. ( Urgent Communications 27/09/2021).
Interoperability—the capacity of distinct and unique systems to communicate with one another effectively—has always been a challenge in public safety. Fire, police, 911, EMS, schools and private organizations often face challenges to share data and communicate effectively across organizational boundaries. In many cases, important information fails to reach all stakeholders involved in emergency response, increasing the risk of serious consequences. (American city and county 31/08/2021).
- FirstNet Authority seeks input on potential solutions to off-network challenges
FirstNet Authority officials released a request for information (RFI) seeking input about direct-mode and other technological solutions to address the issue of providing broadband communications support “off-network”—when first responders are in a location not supported by FirstNet’s terrestrial macro LTE system. (Urgent Communications 14-08-2021).
FirstNet continued its steady subscriber growth during the first half of the year, supporting more than 17,000 public-safety agencies with more than 2.5 million connections, according to an executive from AT&T, the contractor building and maintaining the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN). (Urgent Communications 23/07/2021)
June 28 marked the official end of the solution prototype phase of the BroadWay precommercial procurement (PCP), with the notification of end of phase two results to the three competing consortia: Airbus, Frequentis and Leonardo (Mission Critical Communications 14/07/2021)
This whitepaper discusses how the capabilities of LTE networks and especially how broadcasting functionality can be leveraged not only to provide mission critical communications at system parity with existing solutions, but to enrich them by allowing users to exchange multimedia content in addition to voice and enjoy access to mobile broadband. (GSMA)
A plan submitted seven months ago that called for UK public safety to transition mission-critical voice communications from the Airwave TETRA system to the LTE-based Emergency Services Network (ESN) in 2024 or 2025 was “overambitious” and is being revamped, according to the UK director heading the project. (Urgent Communications 3/03/2021)
Ease of use, audio quality and cost effectiveness are key reasons why push-to-talk-over-LTE technology has become an accepted part of modern public-safety communications—although not at the exclusion of land-mobile-radio (LMR) voice—according to speakers from the EMS, fire and law-enforcement communities. (IWCE Urgent Communications 23-05-2020)
PMeV, the German Association for Critical Communications requests the German Federal Network Agency to grant a long-term use of radio frequencies in the 410 to 430 MHz range for narrow-band mission- and business-critical trunked-radio applications. (The Critical Communications Review 12/5/2020)
Finland’s Virve 2.0 public safety mobile broadband network will be up and running by 2025. (Critical Comms 23 Aprile 2020)
Industry’s mission for public safety includes hybrid LMR and broadband PTT systems that create a ubiquitous communications network. (Mission Critical Communications Pag. 16-18, Marzo 2020)
AT&T’s contracted FirstNet deployment of LTE equipment operating on 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum is 80% complete—a year ahead of schedule—and the overall public-safety broadband system serves 1.2 million subscribers and more than 10,000 public-safety entities, an AT&T executive said this week. (Urgent Communications 12/3/2020)
The State of FirstNet: What Public-Safety Officials Need to Know About FirstNet and How It Interworks with P25 Systems answers important questions that public-safety professionals are asking now. (Mission Critical Communications 09/03/2020)
The Home Office has signalled its intention to “enter into a market engagement exercise” for a direct mode, device-to-device (D2D) solution for devices using the Emergency Services Network (ESN). (Land Mobile 15/1/2020)