Webinar participants say wireless priority status essential for utilities

There are a few different ways utilities can communicate their thoughts or ideas about the FirstNet system, Kilbourne said

Utilities can communicate with their respective single point of contact (SPOC) in a state, who can then relay information to FirstNet, and there is also an opportunity for utility companies to provide input through various proceeding, Kilbourne said. Also, now that FirstNet is wrapping up initial state-consultation meetings, it has started reaching out to utilities directly, he said.

But utilities should not dismiss the idea of effecting the change at the level where the “mistake” was first made—the U.S. Congress, said Morgan O’Brien, vice chairman of Pacific DataVision, which plans to provide prioritized dispatch services to utilities and other critical-infrastructure entities beginning early next year on 900 MHz spectrum recently purchased from Sprint.

In terms of getting priority access on the proposed FirstNet system, O’Brien advised utilities to talk to their congressional representative.

“When I talk to the folks at FirstNet, they seem to be operating on a concept of there’s priority and then there’s priority,” O’Brien said.

“I think it’s kind of in the nature of priority—and priority access, in particular—that you can’t have several degrees of it. Because, if you’re not in the first level, there’s a chance that you’re preempted, and I just don’t know how you tolerate that.”

Sponsored by Avtec, the webinar is called “What’s Next for Utilities Communication?” and is now available on demand at this link. O’Brien, Little and Kilbourne were all speakers for the webinar.