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Interoperability


Public-safety representatives contest recent Verizon claims about its first-responder offerings

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 10th January 2018
Recent statements attributed to Verizon in the media that the carrier’s broadband service is the only public-safety-grade LTE network and that its planned public-safety LTE core network may be interoperable with the FirstNet system “suggest things that are simply not there,” according to a presentation to the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC).

What is in this article?

  • Public-safety representatives contest recent Verizon claims about its first-responder offerings
  • Public-safety representatives contest recent Verizon claims about its first-responder offerings

Public-safety representatives contest recent Verizon claims about its first-responder offerings

Recent statements attributed to Verizon in the media that the carrier’s broadband service is the only public-safety-grade LTE network and that its planned public-safety LTE core network may be interoperable with the FirstNet system “suggest things that are simply not there,” according to a presentation yesterday to the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC).

Kevin McGinnis—a FirstNet board member who said he was speaking as a member of the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) governing board when making comments about Verizon—described some of the recent Verizon assertions as “troubling references.”

Specifically, McGinnis cited a claim by Verizon in a prepared statement that was released on the Dec. 28 deadline day for governors to make their “opt-in/opt-out” decisions. In the statement, Verizon noted that its 2018 plans include “the introduction of products, services and other advanced technologies designed for first responders—all running on the country’s only public-safety-grade LTE network.”

NPSTC established the best practices and guidelines defining “public-safety-grade” communications systems in a report that was released in May 2014. Previous statements from Verizon stopped short of claiming that the carrier’s network actually meets the “public-safety-grade” definition, with one executive noting in a blog that the Verizon system “meets those guidelines in almost every aspect and actually exceeds many of them.”

As for the notion that the Verizon network is the “only public-safety-grade LTE network in the U.S., McGinnis said, “That is simply not true.”

Even more confusing to many in the public-safety community was an article this week indicating that Verizon “is working on an interconnection agreement with FirstNet and AT&T that would bring interoperability between the networks,” citing an interview with Mike Maiorana, senior vice president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions—Public Sector.

Whether the planned Verizon public-safety core network would be interoperable with the FirstNet core network being developed by AT&T has been a matter of considerable interest within the first-responder community. After conducting an initial meeting on the subject with FirstNet officials, Verizon has not had any further discussions with FirstNet about interoperability, according to a spokesperson. Verizon never met with AT&T officials about the possibility of reaching an interoperability agreement, according to the spokesperson.

In the wake of this week’s article, IWCE’s Urgent Communications asked whether Verizon interoperability talks with FirstNet/AT&T were under way. But the Verizon spokesperson said “nothing has changed” on the interoperability front during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications early this week.

McGinnis did not express hope that the proposed Verizon public-safety core would be interoperable with the FirstNet core that AT&T will operate.

“That is simply a very, very difficult construct,” McGinnis said. “It would create extra layers of complexity in implementing the whole network, and it would create unnecessary security complexity and risk, in my view.”

This sentiment was echoed during the NPSTC meeting by Tom Sorley, chairman of FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC). Sorley said that Verizon has been making “pitches to our local governments and organizations,” so PSAC members decided to review the interoperability issue.

“A lot of folks said they were being approached and they wanted more information about the ins and outs, and the plusses and minuses, of connecting the cores. We had a lot of really good discussion on that,” Sorley said. “We all basically agreed that it basically wasn’t a good idea, and we agreed with the information that we were presented.”

It is important that public-safety officials strive to ensure that decision makers get accurate information during this time of considerable change within the public-safety-communications arena.

“As Kevin said, there’s been a lot of things going on in the market about people making claims that really aren’t provable or defendable,” Sorley said. “I think we, as public safety … who have been involved in this effort for the last 10 years, we need to make sure that we are holding folks accountable for what they say. It doesn’t hold near as much weight if AT&T comes out and says, ‘Hey, wait Verizon, that isn’t right’—then it kind of looks self serving.

“We’ve got to continue to be vigilant, as public safety, to make sure that what we’re advocating for—and have advocated for—is what’s happening.”

1 | 2 |
Public-safety representatives contest recent Verizon claims about its first-responder offerings
Tags: Interoperability Long Term Evolution (LTE) News NPSTC NTIA/FirstNet Public Safety Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet Security System Installation News

5 comments

  1. Avatar Jim Struthers 10th January 2018 @ 10:35 pm
    Reply

    Verizon is only carrier that
    Verizon is only carrier that has a truly reliable coverage footprint in most areas of the US, especially in the rural states. AT&T has service in the metro areas and along some major highways that is mediocre to good. When at home in midwest or when in L.A., I am shocked at how poor the service is on my personal AT&T smartphone versus my work Verizon phone. AT&T must plan to use the government money to build out their tower system…

  2. Avatar rsterry 11th January 2018 @ 12:16 pm
    Reply

    Verizon has superior coverage
    Verizon has superior coverage in a lot of areas, and it would better serve public safety for Verizon and AT&T to agree to connect their public safety cores. It would truly foster interoperability and provide competition to ensure public safety is better served. If an agency has better coverage from Verizon and chooses not to use FirstNet, the interoperability problem still exists if the cores are not connected.

  3. Avatar DCSERKITS 11th January 2018 @ 2:29 pm
    Reply

    The only thing AT&T and
    The only thing AT&T and Verizon have in common is they can’t get their stories straight. We have seen diagrams from Verizon showing “core to core” connection with FirstNet. We have been told by national organizations that there can indeed be some form of connectivity between users of of Verizon and AT&T-FN however it will be “best effort” with an internet connection with no guaranteed delivery. This article confirms that in its current state, FirstNet will NEVER reach the right-most column of the SafeCom Interoperability Continuum for data. Currently in my area, AT&T salespeople (many of whom are former Verizon salespeople) promise a lower monthly rate, but cannot give us pricing yet. We have Verizon salespeople visiting us saying they will have a public safety core and many feature like FirstNet – but cannot demonstrate any of it. CAUTION: Sit tight, wait for verifiable information, and hold on to your wallet!

  4. Avatar Troy Keller 12th January 2018 @ 5:33 pm
    Reply

    From my observation of all
    From my observation of all the cell tower sites I have seen personally in the MId Atlantic area over last 35 years. It is Verizon who has the most generators at their sites and buildings,that house their equipment. As opposed to the outdoor cabinets and Generator roll up plugs. Follow the money and see who is propagating the hype of the utopian Fir$tNet..

  5. Avatar Jon 19th January 2018 @ 7:30 pm
    Reply

    AT&T Is getting tons of tax
    AT&T Is getting tons of tax payer money to bild a system as good as Verizon…And public safety will get some band with on the system, While AT&T get a much better system and makes much more $$$$$$$….Verizon should get their legal team going on this scam

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