Verizon calls for greater interoperability with FirstNet, says public-sector business still growing
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Verizon calls for greater interoperability with FirstNet, says public-sector business still growing
In terms of other developments that are important to public safety, Nilan said that Verizon has “multiple customers already utilizing always-on priority and preemption” for first-responder users. In addition, Verizon will begin offering some mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT) services by the end of this year, he said.
“Our first features will be rolled out at the end of this year—in the December timeframe—and then it will expand from there,” Nilan said.
Verizon does not believe that MCPTT will replace land-mobile-radio (LMR) voice communications in the short term, Nilan said.
“Mission-critical push to talk will enable more LMR-like features, but we don’t see that as the end of LMR,” Nilan said. “There will still be a need for land-mobile-radio networks to be relied on by public safety. We anticipate that it will be many years before that completely goes away. I think that those networks that have been invested in over the last several decades need to be interoperable with the cellular networks that are in place, so that those folks who are just carrying radios can communicate with those folks who are just carrying cell phones.
“Right now, our push-to-talk services will interoperate with LMR radios, and we’ll see even tighter integration between our public-safety core—as well as our mission-critical features—with LMR networks over the next year.”
Verizon did not even bid to
Verizon did not even bid to work with Firstnet and now it wants interoperability because they might lose business..too bad.
Good article. I say let
Good article. I say let FirstNet and ATT first build out the system and then have a discussion on interoperability between systems.
As an EMT and firefighter interoperability between the networks would be a great help. In rural Colorado in mountain terrain cell coverage is spotty at best. Half of the district is is ATT and the other is in Verizon. Info must be routed verbally through dispatch and relayed over the department radios. Important info is delayed and missing needed facts to incoming ambulance crews. Direct phone communication would greatly improve response especially in cardiac events requiring helocopter transport. Many areas are dead zones for two way radios.