Broadband Push-to-X

Commentary

September 3GPP Plenary meetings feature Release 18 progress, Release 19 beginnings

The 3GPP Plenary meetings took place September 11-15, 2023, in Bangalore, India. The Technical Specification Group (TSG) reports below highlight continued progress on Release 18 (R18) features of interest for public safety, including steady development on the stage 3 protocol work, which is the last stage in 3GPP standards development. The Plenary meetings included planning […]

News

UK Home Office targets ESN system buildout finish by 2024 year end, Lot 2 award next year

United Kingdom (UK) Home Office officials believe most of the cell sites—also known as masts—necessary for the Emergency Service Network (ESN) will be completed by the end of the next year, according to a report filed with a Parliament committee. This ESN coverage projection was noted in the system progress update provided in response to […]

Zetron boosts UK presence with purchase of Eagle NewCo unit from NEC

Zetron yesterday announced that its Codan parent company paid about $15 million to acquire Eagle NewCo, an NEC Software Solutions UK business unit that boast significant contracts with United Kingdom public-safety and transportation entities. Zetron President and Executive General Manager Scott French said that the Eagle unit—previously known as APD Communications—became available after the UK […]

Commentary

Progress on Release 18 features continues at June 3GPP Plenary meetings; Release 19 remains on track

The 3GPP Plenary meetings took place June 12-16, 2023, in Taipei, Taiwan. The Technical Specification Group (TSG) reports below highlight solid progress on Release 18 (R18) features of interest for public safety, including the completion of the architecture (stage 2) and the steady development on the protocol work (stage 3). The Plenary meetings also included […]

News

UK public-safety agencies caught in middle of much-delayed proposed Airwave-ESN transition

Costs associated with the UK Home Office’s failure to deliver the LTE-based Emergency Services Network (ESN) as a replacement for the TETRA-based Airwave system owned by Motorola Solutions should not be borne solely by public-safety agencies, according to the head of a Parliament committee overseeing the ESN project. ESN was supposed to be completed in […]

Partner content

Doubts grow over viability of UK’s LTE-based ESN

The problems encountered by the UK’s Emergency Services Network (ESN) have been well documented, but it seems that certain long-time observers of the troubled system are now daring to think the unthinkable: could it be that the ESN will never in fact become a reality, at least in its present form? Originally heralded as a […]

News

PTT over FirstNet still needs to clear multiple barriers for mass adoption, 5×5 attendees say

FirstNet’s overall adoption rate has been impressive, but most of public safety still is not enthralled by the idea of using push-to-talk services over the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) for a variety of reasons, according to attendees of the recent 5×5: The Public Safety Innovation Summit in San Diego. AT&T has reported that FirstNet […]

News

AST SpaceMobile says tests confirm 4G capabilities of satellite-direct-to-phone technology

AST SpaceMobile today announced that its satellite-direct-to-phone technology enabled unmodified smartphones to achieve download speeds greater than 10 Mbps during tests with the company’s BlueWalker 3 low-Earth-orbit (LEO) test satellite. Conducted in Hawaii, tests demonstrated initial download speeds transmitted from the BlueWalker 3 satellites reached 10.3 Mbps on “everyday, off-the-shelf smartphones,” according to an AST […]

Audio

PSCR-FirstNet Authority: Officials highlight key features of new 5×5 event in San Diego

Brianna Huettel, strategy and operations lead for Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR), and Jeremy Zollo, chief market engagement officer for the FirstNet Authority, talk about 5×5: The Public Safety Innovation Summit that will be conducted June 28-30 in San Diego. The event marks an evolution of the longtime PSCR Broadband Stakeholder conferences, incorporating discussions […]

News

Nextivity supports satellite-direct-to-phone operations on FirstNet spectrum, looks to upgrade HPUE next year

Nextivity has told the FCC that it supports the notion of using high-power-user-equipment (HPUE) in conjunction with supplemental coverage from space (SCS) on 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority, and CEO Michiel Lotter said the company hopes to unveil “next-generation” HPUE in 2024. Nextivity submitted its comments to the FCC as […]

Commentary

September 3GPP Plenary meetings feature Release 18 progress, Release 19 beginnings

News

UK Home Office targets ESN system buildout finish by 2024 year end, Lot 2 award next year

Zetron boosts UK presence with purchase of Eagle NewCo unit from NEC

Commentary

Progress on Release 18 features continues at June 3GPP Plenary meetings; Release 19 remains on track

News

UK public-safety agencies caught in middle of much-delayed proposed Airwave-ESN transition

Partner content

Doubts grow over viability of UK’s LTE-based ESN

News

PTT over FirstNet still needs to clear multiple barriers for mass adoption, 5×5 attendees say

News

AST SpaceMobile says tests confirm 4G capabilities of satellite-direct-to-phone technology

Audio

PSCR-FirstNet Authority: Officials highlight key features of new 5×5 event in San Diego

News

Nextivity supports satellite-direct-to-phone operations on FirstNet spectrum, looks to upgrade HPUE next year

Commentary

Latest 3GPP standards-development work includes new classes of HPUE, progress on mission-critical services

Is LMR the best solution for first responders? Should 4.9 GHz license go to the FirstNet Authority?

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