https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-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
    • 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
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video 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
    • 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

Most Recent


  • Intelsat, OneWeb team on in-flight connectivity
    UK-government backed OneWeb and US-based Intelsat are joining forces to offer in-flight connectivity services to airlines, combining the former’s low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite service with the latter’s geostationary (GEO) satellites to “harness the power of multi-orbit capabilities.” The companies said they expect the multi-orbit solution to be in service by 2024. Inflight connectivity is certainly an […]
  • Black Hat 2022: Adapting to the growing cyberthreat landscape
    The nation’s first cybersecurity chief is warning that the growing threat landscape will get worse as society and businesses become more digitized. At the Black Hat USA 2022 conference, Chris Krebs, the first director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said he spent the last 18 months gathering information. He spoke to people […]
  • Diffusing the connected car's ticking data-privacy timebomb
    Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) collate a significant amount of data to ensure vehicle safety, requiring an always-on internet connection and hundreds of sensors. An entire industry has been developed around monitoring, logging, analyzing and monetizing it. Yet, the danger is, particularly with increasing cyber-attacks, that this data could end up being leaked and stolen. […]
  • Patch madness: Vendor bug advisories are broken, so broken
    BLACK HAT USA – Las Vegas – Keeping up with security-vulnerability patching is challenging at best, but prioritizing which bugs to focus on has become more difficult than ever before, thanks to context-lacking CVSS scores, muddy vendor advisories, and incomplete fixes that leave admins with a false sense of security. That’s the argument that Brian […]

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

  • AT&T FirstNet: Fred Scalera highlights capabilities, increased use of SatCOLT deployable systems
  • AT&T: Fred Scalera, Ryan Burchnell highlight FirstNet subscribers' increased use of deployables
  • AT&T announces Emergency Drop Kit to provide FirstNet users with connectivity wherever they go
  • AT&T FirstNet: Fred Scalera outlines capabilities in new Emergency Drop Kits for FirstNet

Commentary


LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command

  • 2
6th May 2022

Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications

18th April 2022

FirstNet success means no hypothetical ‘shots’ need to be fired, Swenson says

22nd February 2022
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Intelsat, OneWeb team on in-flight connectivity dlvr.it/SWgYb2

15th August 2022
UrgentComm

Black Hat 2022: Adapting to the growing cyberthreat landscape dlvr.it/SWgF3Y

15th August 2022
UrgentComm

Diffusing the connected car’s ticking data-privacy timebomb dlvr.it/SWdCw2

14th August 2022
UrgentComm

Patch madness: Vendor bug advisories are broken, so broken dlvr.it/SWcvFR

14th August 2022
UrgentComm

What the 6 GHz band might mean to fixed-wireless access dlvr.it/SWctfk

14th August 2022
UrgentComm

FirstNet PTT technical progress highlighted by AT&T at APCO 2022 dlvr.it/SWZtNJ

13th August 2022
UrgentComm

Newscan: D.C. appeals court upholds FCC decision to share 5.9 GHz V2V spectrum with Wi-Fi dlvr.it/SWZQpx

13th August 2022
UrgentComm

Cisco confirms data breach, hacked files leaked dlvr.it/SWV8l9

12th August 2022

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”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 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