What’s in a name? For FirstNet, “public-safety entity” definition to critical to system planning, business model
Most of this has been said before in various forums. One unique aspect in the FirstNet proceeding is the notion than an individual can be deemed to be a “public-safety entity.” The example given is an individual who works for a public-safety entity, such as a volunteer firefighter.
Personally, the notion that an individual can qualify as a public-safety entity makes sense. An off-duty police officer who happens to witness a crime during his daily routine should not be prohibited from accessing the FirstNet system simply because he is not on the clock. Of course, it likely would require that his consumer device can access the Band 14 700 MHz system upon being authenticated.
And that brings up another point. If an individual can be deemed a public-safety entity, should that be limited only to individuals that work for a public-safety entity? What about someone who calls 911? While the 911 caller likely would be a secondary user—at best—under normal circumstances, perhaps the 911 caller should be considered a “public-safety entity” when making an emergency call that meets certain criteria.
Under normal circumstances, the commercial network can support a 911 call just fine. However, there may be cases when the 911 caller has access to critical information that requires the dedicated bandwidth that may only be available via the FirstNet system.
Consider the case of a hostage situation in a next-generation 911 environment. If someone unnoticed inside the building can provide photos or even video of what’s going on, that critical data stream should have access to prioritized bandwidth via the FirstNet system, instead of fruitlessly attempting to upload this information at a time over a commercial network that may be saturated by news crews and curious onlookers. At that point in time, there should be a way to transform that everyday consumer into a prioritized “public-safety entity.”
Again, this would require the 911 caller's consumer device to have the capability of accessing the Band 14 system (another column for another time) with appropriate authentication from the call-taker or other public-safety official.
Perhaps this notion is a matter of taking the notion of “public-safety entity” a step too far, or maybe it represents the tip of a new iceberg. Regardless of your thoughts, please consider sharing them via this proceeding to provide the input FirstNet officials envision—and the good news is that you have some time, because the deadline for comments for both this proceeding and the comprehensive RFI has been extended to Oct. 27.