LA-RICS public-safety LTE project in peril after LA City Council votes to stop construction

Some sources cited the possibility that a different kind of a public-safety LTE deployment could be pursued in the Los Angeles area, given the region’s importance to the overall FirstNet mission. However, all sources agreed that any attempts to revamp the public-safety LTE initiative would face significant challenges on multiple levels, and none of the sources were willing to speculate on a workable scenario.

If the federal government grants extra time for the public-safety LTE project, LA-RICS and the city should get input from key stakeholders, including representatives of fire and police unions that have been outspoken in their criticism of the public-safety LTE initiative, Englander said. In addition, LA-RICS should revisit the technical design of the LTE project that was bid less than two years ago, he said.

“We haven’t even explored new technologies, whether those are microcells … I’ve got a microcell at my home; without a tower, you can have your own cell site,” Englander said. “You can buy those off the shelf today.

“This [the current LA-RICS LTE design] is technology that was started 20 and 30 years ago, and they haven’t looked at new technologies, which—quite frankly—could not only be less intrusive from a health perspective, from a community perspective, from an impact perspective, but also from a cost perspective. None of those things have been explored. We’re asking simply that they explore those things, as well.”

NTIA awarded LA-RICS with BTOP funding for the public-safety LTE project in 2009, just a few months before the world’s first commercial LTE service was launched in Europe.

Recent struggles with Los Angeles County, the city of Los Angeles and other regional jurisdictions are just the latest challenges for the LA-RICS LTE project. In 2011, LA-RICS selected Raytheon to build both the 700 MHz broadband LTE network and 700 MHz narrowband LMR system, but that bid result was vacated. Before the project could be rebid the following year, NTIA froze all public-safety BTOP initiatives in the wake of Congress passing the law that established FirstNet.

In the fall of 2013, FirstNet negotiated a spectrum-lease agreement with LA-RICS, and Motorola Solutions won the bid for the LTE system after also signing a contract to build the P25 LMR system for LA-RICS. Early last year, LA-RICS signed the contract with Motorola Solutions to build the public-safety LTE network before the BTOP grant deadline expires this fall.

Mallon has acknowledged that the LA-RICS deployment timetable for the public-safety LTE network is aggressive. In fact, Mallon has noted that the project is feasible only because LA-RICS was able to secure an exemption to the normally time-consuming state regulations under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), if all LTE cell sites could be build on government property.

However, when LA-RICS began installing the LTE cell towers near fire stations and police stations, union officials voiced concerns—opposition that also was expressed during yesterday’s Los Angeles City Council meeting. While health issues associated with RF emissions have been the focus of public union concerns in recent weeks, the representatives yesterday also noted other issues associated with the public-safety LTE project.

“We have heard for years now about grant deadlines and the importance of not losing federal funds,” Frank Lima, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC), said. “Unfortunately, we’ve heard very little about the health and safety of the LA-RICS or the environmental and community impacts. This can’t be just about finishing a project, so we can all get federal funds, [but] that’s what it has felt like all along.”