LA-RICS nears finish line on public-safety LTE system deployment, on target for Sept. 30 deadline

Stanton said LA-RICS officials will begin working on the P25 system deployment after the public-safety LTE project is completed. The original LA-RICS plan called for many P25 antennas to be located on the same tower as an LTE antenna. With more than two-thirds of the permanent fixed towers in the original LTE proposal no longer in the plan, the P25 system will have to pursue other strategies to maintain the same coverage levels as designed, LA-RICS Executive Director Patrick Mallon has said.

The LA-RICS public-safety LTE project is one of five early-builder initiatives that FirstNet has approved to use its 20 MHz of Band 14 700 MHz spectrum and provide real-world insights into the technical and operational capabilities associated with a dedicated public-safety LTE network.

Like LA-RICS, the LTE systems in Adams County, Colo., the state of New Mexico and the state of New Jersey were funded with BTOP grants. The early-builder system in Harris County, Texas—a network that is scheduled to be expanded—was the first public-safety LTE network deployed in the United States and initially was funded with federal grants not associated with BTOP.