https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • IWCE 2023 Pre-event Guide
    • IWCE 2022 Winter Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Wireless Networks


Panel: Broadband voice for public safety is inevitable

Panel: Broadband voice for public safety is inevitable

But it won’t happen for at least a decade, and it might not happen at all unless the sector’s spectrum needs are met, experts said.
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 12th March 2010

Leading public-safety communications officials participating in a panel discussion at IWCE 2010 yesterday said that IP-based broadband technologies inevitably would supplant land-mobile radio for the provisioning of public-safety voice communications. But it won’t happen for at least a decade, and it might not happen at all unless the sector’s spectrum needs are met.

Chuck Dowd, deputy chief of the New York City Police Department who is in charge of the NYPD’s communications system, acknowledged that land-mobile radio has provided reliable first-responder communications for decades.

“But the question is, ‘Why can’t we take that reliability and transfer it over to a broadband capability?’ I see no reason why that can’t happen,” Dowd said. “It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, and it has to be proven. But at the same time, rather than supporting two different types of network — one for broadband data and another for narrowband voice — ultimately the right solution will combine those capabilities.”

Harlin McEwen, chairman of the Public Safety Spectrum Trust, which holds public safety’s 10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum that would be paired with 10 MHz of commercial spectrum to form the spectral foundation for a nationwide broadband network for first responders — agreed with Dowd on a macro level. “I think Chuck’s vision is the right vision,” McEwen said. “I don’t disagree at all that this vision not only is possible, but is likely. It is just a matter of time.”

But the devil always is in the details, and McEwen quickly shared his concerns over the amount of spectrum currently held by the public-safety sector.

“If we’re going to do this, we’re going to need more spectrum,” McEwen said. “I don’t think we should be putting all of our eggs into the [broadband] basket and going down the path to the future until we have some assurance that we’re going to have enough spectrum to be able to do that.”

The spectrum picture has become murkier of late. Originally, the plan was for the commercial D Block licensee and public safety to share a 20 MHz network. Now, signs indicate that the FCC will allow the commercial entity to operate independently from public safety, which would necessitate a guard band between the two spectrum blocks. That guard band likely would be carved out of public safety’s spectrum, which would reduce the usable airwaves by 20%. This could place a significant roadblock in the path of the broadband voice future that Dowd envisions.

Even if the spectrum problems were sorted out today, it will be years before broadband voice becomes a reality because the work to build a voice capability into the standard for Long Term Evolution, or LTE — the technology chosen by public safety for its broadband network — so far has focused on telephony-based approaches that won’t work for public-safety, said Emil Olbrich, lead project engineer in the Office of Law Enforcement Standards of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

However, Olbrich added that the standards body is taking into account public safety’s needs and currently is investigating two approaches — broadcast and multicast — to determine which would be better for delivering the one-to-many voice communications that public safety requires. He cautioned, however, that transport is just the first step in the process. LTE devices also have to be considered, in order to ensure the lowest-possible latency and fastest-possible call setup times, crucial considerations for mission-critical voice.

In this regard, public safety could help its cause greatly by becoming a bigger part of the process, Olbrich said. “We need public safety’s input on their operational requirements,” he said. “You don’t need to know the technical things — we’ll develop those. We just need to know what kind of reliability you need, what kind of availability you need. We need participation from practitioners nationwide to get a feel for what these systems need to be.”

With broadband voice years away, public-safety agencies whose network and subscriber equipment is aging will find themselves in a state of limbo. The key question they face is: Do they upgrade their systems now or do they wait for the broadband vision to become reality? The consensus thinking of the panel is that the answer lies somewhere in the middle.

Bill Schrier, chief technical officer for the city of Seattle, who believes public-safety broadband voice is a decade away, said, “I’m going to continue to invest in our current LMR systems — not major investments, not forklift investments, but investments that will bring them up to Project 25 for their 10-year life.”

Tags: content Wireless Networks

Most Recent


  • How and why AT&T selected Fujitsu radios for 5G
    Lost in AT&T’s big $14 billion announcement with Ericsson for open RAN was the fact that it also plans to purchase 5G radios from Fujitsu. The move represents a major win for the Japanese wireless network equipment vendor, which is relatively unknown outside its home market. “In order to support the acceleration of open RAN in AT&T’s […]
  • PSSA asks FCC for FirstNet Authority license at 4.9 GHz, opposes CERCI proposal
    A Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) filing this week reiterates its call for the FCC to award a nationwide license of 4.9 GHz  spectrum to the FirstNet Authority, ignoring a recent coalition filing that asks the commission to approve rules that would let local jurisdictions largely determine how the airwaves are used. Jeff Johnson, executive […]
  • Critical Bluetooth flaw exposes Android, Apple & Linux devices to takeover
    Attackers can exploit a critical Bluetooth security vulnerability that’s been lurking largely unnoticed for years on macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux device platforms. The keystroke injection vulnerability allows an attacker to control the targeted device as if they were attached by a Bluetooth keyboard, performing various functions remotely depending on the endpoint. Tracked as CVE-2023-45866, the flaw exists […]
  • AT&T's $14B open-RAN commitment with Ericsson snubs Nokia
    AT&T said it plans to shift up to 70% of its wireless traffic to an open RAN network architecture by 2026 through a new agreement with vendor Ericsson. AT&T said the value of that new agreement could reach up to $14 billion over five years. The move represents a shift away from Nokia and positions Ericsson as […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • The battle over connected cars drags on
  • UK officials revamp ESN plans again, target Airwave-to-LTE transition for end of 2026
  • PSCR: Dereck Orr highlights features of June 21-24 virtual event
  • FirstNet buildout on pace for March 2023 completion, AT&T official says

Commentary


Things to know about IWCE 2024: The basics 

5th December 2023

Land mobile radio (LMR) systems are just as vulnerable to cyberattacks as any other networks used in the public-safety sector. Here’s what to do about it.

  • 2
7th November 2023

September 3GPP Plenary meetings feature Release 18 progress, Release 19 beginnings

13th October 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.