https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Events
    • 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
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • 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
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Events
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • WHY ATTEND
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Registration Opens April 2019-Join Our Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • 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

Deployables


News

FirstNet One deployable blimp provides LTE coverage option for longer-term response efforts

FirstNet One deployable blimp provides LTE coverage option for longer-term response efforts

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 23rd December 2019

FirstNet One—the tethered aerostat announced earlier this month that can provide LTE coverage from a height of about 1,000 feet—promises to be a valuable addition to the FirstNet deployable portfolio, particularly when a response effort is needed for a period of weeks, according to an AT&T official.

“It’s another tool in the toolbox,” Fred Scalera, associate director for AT&T’s FirstNet team and a leader for the Response Operations Group (ROG) that oversees deployable use for FirstNet users.

When deployed, FirstNet One is designed to act as a very tall LTE tower, with a lengthy tether supplying the airborne eNodeB base station with both power and fiber connectivity to a deployable ground unit. FirstNet One can provide extended LTE coverage to a large geographic area—one that could require several SatCOLTs to cover—for weeks at a time, Scalera said.

Scalera said the potential benefit of a long-term LTE deployable solution like FirstNet One became apparent as multiple SatCOLTs were needed to provide first responders with broadband connectivity in the Florida panhandle after Hurricane Michael hit in the fall of 2018. One SatCOLT remained in the area for more than five months, he said.

“When we have that big of an outage, that’s the perfect use [for FirstNet One], so we don’t have all of these structures running around and don’t have to fuel all of these vehicles,” Scalera said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “You’ll have one continuous piece of equipment up there covering that larger area.

“It’s about getting units back in service for us for other responses—secondary storms. Sometimes we have different things going happening across the country. This could replace 3, 4 or 5 [SatCOLTs] that might be out there.”

In addition to freeing up SatCOLTs, the FirstNet One blimp also reduces the amount of personnel that has to be deployed in a geographic area to support LTE connectivity via other means, according to Scalera.

“If we’re flying a Flying COW [cell on wings, an LTE base station on a drone], it requires two pilots to keep it flying for 24 hours per day,” Scalera said. “It comes down for 40 minutes per day for maintenance, and we have to rotate pilots.

“Here [with FirstNet One], it’s just a person pretty much monitoring the balloon, wind conditions and the helium pressure inside the unit. If all goes right, about every three weeks, we pull it down, pump it back up and put it up.”

While retracting FirstNet One for such maintenance—typically with additional personnel on scene, although one person could do it in good conditions—can be accomplished in a few hours, the initial deployment of the LTE blimp currently takes more than a day, Scalera said. For this and other reasons, FirstNet One would not be the first deployable at an incident scene, as AT&T is contractually required to provide broadband coverage to first responders within 14 hours of a request being made.

“We’re never going to meet a 14-hour RTO with the flying COWs or FirstNet One,” Scalera said. “There are just too many logistics to them to do that … When you’re on scene, to get it fully vetted, tested, blown up and follow all of the safety guidelines that we have, it’s a day-and-half to two days to launch FirstNet One.”

Removing FirstNet One from a location also can take an extended amount of time, which could limit the ability to deploy the LTE blimp during a wildfire response—especially in situations changes in wind direction could put the FirstNet One crew in the path of a blaze, Scalera said.

“It’s not easy to get this thing packed up and get out of the way in four or five hours,” Scalera said. “With the Flying COW, we can put it up and get it down in minutes. We can pack it up quickly … It’s just a matter of bringing the thing down, and you drive away.

“It’s not as easy with this [FirstNet One]. When you bring it down, I want to say it’s still half a day or a day to pack it up and get out of there. So, I’d be concerned with a fire, until we learn more and get better at it.”

In addition, deploying FirstNet One during a wildfire response would require significant coordination with other aspects of effort—for instance, ensuring that the LTE blimp does not interfere with fire retardant that is dropped from planes. Scalera said he is glad that the FirstNet ROG team includes so many members with the fire and law-enforcement backgrounds to anticipate such situations.

Current plans call for FirstNet One to provide broadband connectivity with satellite backhaul via the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum that is licensed to the FirstNet Authority, according to Scalera. In situations where high-speed fiber or microwave backhaul is available, FirstNet One can support the payload necessary to also support LTE via one of AT&T’s commercial bands, as well as Band 14, Scalera said.

It is important that FirstNet One be used to support the mission of broadband connectivity for first responders, as opposed to ancillary purposes, Scalera said.

“I would never want to have cameras on any of our LTE network,” he said. “As soon as you put cameras on it and law enforcement is involved, there are questions about who was picked up, who is watching the video, and did you record it while it was in the air.

“We’re the network guys … We don’t want to get lost trying to do five different things when we’re supposed to be out there providing the network.”

 

Tags: homepage-featured-4 Backhaul Coverage/Interference Critical Infrastructure Deployables Drones/Robots Federal Government/Military Long Term Evolution (LTE) News NTIA/FirstNet Public Safety Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet Regional Coordination State & Local Government System Design System Operation Tower & Site News

Related


  • AT&T FirstNet: Fred Scalera highlights capabilities, increased use of SatCOLT deployable systems
      Fred Scalera, director of public-safety strategy and policy for AT&T FirstNet describes many key features associated with the FirstNet deployable program, which includes a fleet of 72 satellite-cell-on-light-truck (SatCOLT) vehicles that are available to FirstNet subscribers—at no additional no cost—when terrestrial-network coverage is unavailable or extra capacity is needed. Nationwide, these SatCOLT are being […]
  • AT&T: Fred Scalera, Ryan Burchnell highlight FirstNet subscribers' increased use of deployables
      Fred Scalera (left) and Ryan Burchnell of FIrstNet, Built by AT&T, outline the increased demand for deployable LTE coverage this year by FirstNet subscribers, who can request  such communications support at no additional cost. Scalera and Burchnell spoke to IWCE’s Urgent Communications Editor Donny Jackson during the APCO 2019 event in Baltimore.
  • AT&T announces Emergency Drop Kit to provide FirstNet users with connectivity wherever they go
    AT&T announces the Emergency Drop Kit, which is designed to let FirstNet users take network connectivity with them virtually anywhere, providing a 300-foot-radius Wi-Fi “bubble” supported by backhaul that can switch seamlessly between satellite and LTE connections.
  • AT&T FirstNet: Fred Scalera outlines capabilities in new Emergency Drop Kits for FirstNet
    Fred Scalera, director of public-safety strategy and policy for AT&T-FirstNet, highlights the capabilities of the Emergency Drop Kit, a 25-pound deployable package that first responders can take with them into areas that lack terrestrial-network coverage. Connectivity is provided via satellite backhaul, and the Emergency Drop Kits can be deployed in a daisy-chain method to establish a larger Wi-Fi coverage “bubble.”

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

  • California PD: ‘Game-changing’ Live911 streaming of emergency calls accelerates responses
  • Why Tucson is building its own 4G network
  • SolarWinds attackers lurked for 'several months' in FireEye's network
  • Buffalo's 48 hours to navigate a mission-critical transition to remote work

Commentary


Ransomware? Let’s call it what it really is: extortionware

21st February 2021

Redefining communications for today’s mobile workforces

18th February 2021

Hi-tech sewer can help safeguard public health, environment and economies

18th February 2021
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Microsoft adopted ‘aggressive’ strategy for sharing SolarWinds Attack intel dlvr.it/Rv9vmp

8th March 2021
UrgentComm

How SolarWinds busted up our assumptions about code signing dlvr.it/Rv25kB

5th March 2021
UrgentComm

Senate American Rescue plan calls for more than $60 million in direct aid for counties dlvr.it/Rv1wGF

5th March 2021
UrgentComm

NTIA seeks potential new FirstNet Authority board members dlvr.it/Rv0YfL

5th March 2021
UrgentComm

Smart-building projects target energy efficiency as launchpad to health and safety dlvr.it/RtyhRY

4th March 2021
UrgentComm

ESN official hints at potentially costly new timeline for UK public-safety broadband project dlvr.it/Rttvzj

3rd March 2021
UrgentComm

Ericsson, Huawei, AT&T attending Mobile World Congress in June, others not so sure dlvr.it/RtrtT2

3rd March 2021
UrgentComm

Newscan: Klobuchar calls on Congress to get serious on tech reform dlvr.it/RtqByn

2nd March 2021

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
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2021 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.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X