LMR licensing activity in the U.S. reaches record-low levels in 2017, according to FCC database
PoC offerings are used by public-safety personnel today, but typically only to augment—not replace—LMR services, which remain the primary communication vehicle for mission-critical voice communications.
However, the use of cellular communications for non-mission-critical voice and data had an impact on LMR. By offloading non-mission-critical voice and providing key information via data, sensors and mapping, cellular broadband usage has dramatically decreased the amount of voice traffic on LMR networks, which lessens the need to add capacity to existing radio systems that would require additional licensing activity, according to many industry sources.
Whether broadband push-to-talk service eventually could replace LMR voice is among the hottest topics within the public-safety industry.
No one claims that existing PoC solutions on commercial networks are an option for mission-critical voice for first responders. But the mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) LTE standard was approved almost two years ago, so equipment and solutions will be available commercially this year. In addition, AT&T has promised that MCPTT will be offered to FirstNet subscribers this year.
Most industry sources believe MCPTT could prove to be an effective voice option for public-safety users when they are on a mission-critical network, such as FirstNet is supposed to be. However, there are considerable doubts whether LTE’s power limitations will allow MCPTT to be a viable option to first responders when the LTE network is not available and direct-mode communications are necessary.
With this in mind, officials in the United Kingdom have said that they plan to continue using LMR radios for direct-mode communications, but they expect to transition on-network mission-critical voice services to a new public-safety LTE system known as the Emergency Services Network (ESN). This transition of on-network mission-critical voice to the ESN is being implemented so that the UK can retire its existing LMR system, which is a TETRA network that has become extremely expensive.