MC LTE in USA
22
US public safety
LTE networks
www.criticalcomms.com March 2020
The USA is undertaking a major project to build a nationwide
public safety broadband network using a commercial provider,
but it faces some unique challenges in realising its ambitions,
as James Atkinson reports
The USA is at the forefront
of nations pioneering the
migration of public safety
agencies from narrowband
land mobile radio (LMR)
wireless communication platforms to
broadband LTE systems.
In 2012, Congress passed
legislation to build the fi rst-ever
Nationwide Public Safety Broadband
Network (NPSBN) and set up
the independent First Responder
Network Authority (FirstNet) to
oversee its implementation and
operation, along with granting $7bn
in funding.
Mobile carrier AT&T was awarded
a 25-year, $6.5bn contract to build
and maintain the public safety
network in March 2017 and was
granted 2 x 10MHz of 700MHz
(Band 14) spectrum for both public
safety and non-public safety use
to complement its existing 4G
LTE spectrum holdings. AT&T
is providing FirstNet access to its
infrastructure and is spending $40bn
to maintain and improve its network.
Unlike its fellow mission-critical
(MC) LTE public safety network
pioneers in the UK and South
Korea, the USA faces some unique
challenges, not least of which is
its sheer size. Implementing the
ubiquitous coverage that fi rstresponders
require across all its vast
and cost. Others want to wait until
they can access the mission-critical
voice services they are used to on
LMR networks.
Coverage
Ryan Poltermann, innovation
architect at Commdex and vicechair,
LMR-LTE Integration and
Interoperability Working Group
of the National Public Safety
Telecommunications Council
(NPSTC) – an organisation of
15 public safety organisations,
along with federal, state and local
government representatives – believes
that coverage is the main infl uencer
of choice.
“In the US, coverage remains the
factor for selecting a carrier. Th is
coverage issue may preclude one
or more carriers from even being a
choice to public agencies, and it is
worth mentioning there are biases
that would prevent switching even
if the coverage were equivalent or
better,” says Poltermann.
AT&T currently off ers an
Enhanced PTT service from
Motorola Solutions’ Kodiak Networks
and says it will provide a 3GPPcompliant
mission-critical push-totalk
(MCPTT) service in early 2020.
It has also selected a second MCPTT
provider, but has not yet revealed
who this is.
states and territories is a tall order and
an expensive one compared with the
geographically much smaller UK and
South Korea.
And then there are the high
numbers of fi rst-responders that need
to be migrated. Th ere are upwards
of 60,000 public safety agencies
in the USA and more than 10,000
LMR networks. Rough fi gures
estimate there are between 750,000
and 850,000 sworn police offi cers,
826,000 licensed and credentialed
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
professionals and around 1,216,600
career and volunteer fi refi ghters.
Th e other catch, and it is a very
signifi cant one, is that although all
56 states and territories have allowed
FirstNet/AT&T to deploy the
network in their states, there is no
requirement for state and local public
safety agencies to use the network.
AT&T must attract users to the
network to ensure it is self-sustaining,
as required under the legislation.
But other mobile carriers, Verizon
in particular, are off ering similar
services, which may aff ect FirstNet/
AT&T’s enrolment eff orts.
Other factors aff ect enrolment.
Some public safety agencies
have expressed reluctance to join
FirstNet, citing uncertainties
with the resiliency, reliability and
security of the network, coverage
The sheer size of
the USA is just
one of the major
challenges the
country faces
in rolling out
nationwide public
safety broadband
coverage
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