House subcommittee applauds FirstNet’s progress toward nationwide public-safety network
What is in this article?
Pallone asks whether FirstNet should be split from NTIA
Perhaps the most intriguing line of questioning came from Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who asked whether FirstNet could operate more effectively as an entity that is not within the structure of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
“FirstNet was created to be part of NTIA, which is part of the Department of Commerce,” Pallone said. “It seems to me that you might be able to deploy the network faster, if FirstNet was spun out of the agency. So, do you think that FirstNet has reached the point where it can stand on its own as an independent corporation? And, if we’re not there yet, what needs to happen first?”
Kennedy did not address the spin-off notion in his response, but he did note that FirstNet increasingly is able to function as an independent entity.
“I think FirstNet has grown a lot from the early days,” Kennedy said. “I believe that, when we started, we relied very heavily on NTIA and the Department of Commerce for a lot of key functions. As we’ve been able to build up our staff, we’ve been able to take on some of those key corporate and governance functions of the organization. We’ve moved things like finance entirely within the organization, and now we’re looking at key elements like human resources and procurement and how that can be taken on by FirstNet in the future.
“I do believe that we’re maturing, and I do think that that kind of responsibility and accountability for FirstNet is something that we’re growing into very much so.”
Eshoo is so O_U_T with
Eshoo is so O_U_T with reality and needs to be voted O_U_T.
Rep. Eschoo plainly has no
Rep. Eschoo plainly has no clue what is actually needed in Public Safety communications. The first issue that comes to mind is that those responders out in the field will always rely first and foremost on voice communications. LTE will NOT be ready for public safety grade voice for at least 5-8 years yet. The 3GPP group is just now talking about consumer grade voice for carriers over LTE, and we all know how bad our cell phones sound. This will be just as bad, if not worse.
Next, while I agree that paying $5000 for a basic public safety grade handheld or mobile is out of line, $1000 to $2500 is not. That technology, LMR, using P25, or DMR, or the most reliable form-Analog, will not be going away for at least 10-20 years yet. Telling public safety agencies that they should not be investing in these systems will put lives in danger as they limp along with old systems, while sitting on their hands waiting for this somewhat pie in the sky system.
Also, the government’s record for these kinds of projects is not very good. 800 MHz rebanding was supposed to take no more than 3-4 years. It’s been well over 10 years now, and there are still many areas that are not done, including the Mexican border area that is just getting going. P25 has been in process for nearly 25 years, and still has a few areas that have not been fully completed or implemented. The digital TV migration got delayed several times. VHF/UHF Part 90 narrowbanding did not go very smoothly at all, and the main reason it kept close to any schedule was because the FCC put virtually all the responsibility for completion on licensees-as in-‘here’s the deadline, and you’re sticking to it, whether you’re ready or not’ (for the most part).
I’ll repeat this for emphasis: Telling public safety agencies not to put any more money into LMR radio systems is very dangerous, and *will* result in accidents, and probably tragedy, at some point.
The trend in wireless
The trend in wireless technology is clearly towards broadband and away from narrowband. The investment in engineering, and the allocation of new spectrum is almost all in the broadband space. LMR systems that are local in nature will gradually be replaced by broadband wireless systems.
Broadband LTE is a global phenomenon. It is much bigger than FirstNet. The U.K. and South Korea have both committed to replacing their public safety LMR systems with LTE systems by 2020. Mission Critical Voice standards will likely be complete by 2017, and even if they are not completely nailed down, South Korea and the U.K. will proceed with their LTE deployments.
FirstNet can easily fail due to poor management, politics, or resistance from LMR interests, but broadband wireless technology will not fail.
Broadband and narrowband are two very different technologies. Narrowband can cover vast distances from a single site, broadband can not. Conversely, broadband can support applications such as HD video wheras narrowband can not. Within a defined coverage area where sites can be constructed at regular intervals of 50 miles or less and connected to a core by fiber or microwave, broadband is the clear choice since it can outperform narrowband in all three application categories (voice, video and data). Narrowband systems operate in a single domain (either the frequency domain or the time domain). LTE operates in three domains simultaneously (frequency, time and space) making it far more specrally efficient than narrowband. Spectrum is a limited asset that must be conserved since the demand for spectrum has never been greater and continues to increase. All governments are under pressure to adapt more spectrally efficient technologies. LTE has a re-use factor of one; the same channel can be re-used at every site. This is one reason it so popular with commercial networks and government reglators alike. The more you aggregate spectrum (the wider you make the channel) the more efficient you can become since you can allocate sub channels at will when and where they are needed.
why not add ROIP (radio over
why not add ROIP (radio over IP) to your existing system? Less than $50 a user and quit waiting for FirstNet