Tune in to tomorrow’s webinar on LTE/LMR convergence

Everyone in public safety is excited about the broadband communications network that's coming — and with good reason. It will make possible capabilities that once were the stuff of dreams. It will help first responders protect the public better than ever before. It will keep first responders safer.

But there are plenty of concerns about this network — also with good reason. In the near term, many wonder whether next week's federal elections ultimately will result in new legislation that will strip away the $7 billion that has been authorized for this project or — in a worst-case scenario — result in the D Block being reallocated once again, this time to commercial interests.

Assuming that neither of these scenarios occur, there still is the question of whether Congress will provide billions more that will be needed to complete the buildout. Even if it does, some wonder whether they should join the network once it's built. Still others are convinced that they will leverage this opportunity as soon as it presents itself but wonder how they should manage the migration, particularly because no one knows when mission-critical voice over broadband will be a realistic option.

Regarding the migration, one thing is certain: it will take years — perhaps decades — to play out. And while it is, communications officials are going to need to decide how their agencies' legacy land-mobile-radio systems are going to dovetail with the next-generation Long-Term Evolution systems that are on their way, a phenomenon known as convergence.

Conveniently enough, Urgent Communications will be hosting a free webinar tomorrow, Oct. 31, at 2:00 ET, that will explore convergence as it relates to LTE and LMR technologies. We've lined up a great panel for this event, which is sponsored by Harris Corp. Scheduled to appear are:

• Patrick. M. Flynn, Joint Wireless Program Office, U.S. Dept of Homeland Security
• Felix Perez, Miami-Dade County
• Joe Ross, Televate LLC
• Andrew Thiessen, Public Safety Communications Research, U.S. Dept. of Commerce

In this webinar, we will define what convergence means — at the device, application and network levels — why it is crucial, how to achieve it and, most importantly, what it will make possible from an end-user perspective.

I urge you to tune in. As always, I am certain it will be time well spent — and you can't beat the price.

What do you think? Tell us in the comment box below.