Partner content Researchers say smartphone-location tracking can fight COVID-19 4th April 2020 Researchers at MIT have developed a smartphone location-tracking app that they say could help stop the spread of COVID-19. The Private Kit app allows coronavirus patients to rely on their phones instead of their memories when doctors ask them where they have been and who they might have exposed. People who download the Private Kit app can […]
News House Dems include NG911 funding in future infrastructure proposal 3rd April 2020 House Democrats this week revealed that federal funding to support the nationwide deployment of IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) technology is included in their proposal for a future coronavirus rescue legislation that places an emphasis on infrastructure projects, but such a package may be delayed longer than anticipated. A cost study released in the fall of […]
News The eight new things we learned about New T-Mobile 3rd April 2020 The merger between Sprint and T-Mobile is now finally, officially closed. And as a result, the newly combined company – often referred to as “New T-Mobile” – is now offering some new details about how it’s going to challenge market leaders AT&T and Verizon. Sprint and T-Mobile have previously offered a wide range of details about their merger […]
Partner content 2G, not 5G, best bet to accelerate driverless tech 2nd April 2020 Making our existing cars more ‘clever’ could be a better way of getting autonomous cars safely on our streets rather than relying on 5G connectivity. That’s the view of Dr Ramsey Faragher founder and CEO of FocalPoint and a Fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge, who argues a 2G connection is ample when the car’s sensor […]
News AT&T announces MCPTT-based FirstNet PTT, certifications for HPUE products from Assured Wireless 31st March 2020 AT&T today announced FirstNet Push-to-Talk (FirstNet PTT), a solution based on the 3GPP’s mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT) standard that is available to public safety nationwide for $10 per month and that two high-power user equipment (HPUE) products from Assured Wireless have been certified for FirstNet use. “FirstNet PTT is designed to enable public safety to use their […]
News AT&T introduces ‘free smartphone for life’ program with some agency-paid FirstNet subscriptions 31st March 2020 Public-safety agencies subscribing to FirstNet on certain two-year contracts will be able to provide their users with FirstNet Ready smartphones for free and upgrade them at no cost “for life,” as long as the agency-paid FirstNet subscription is maintained, AT&T announced today. “First responders deserve a dedicated communications partner that can provide the tools they […]
Audio Podcast: Ryan Poltermann outlines considerations, resources for disinfecting communications devices 31st March 2020 Ryan Poltermann, innovation acrchitect at Commdex Consulting and vice chair of NPSTC’s LMR/LTE Integration and Interoperability Working Group, discusses measures that public safety can take to disinfect LMR radios and smart devices to reduce the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus, particularly through equipment that may be shared within an agency. Poltermann has compiled […]
News COVID-19 crisis challenging public-safety communications on many levels, speakers say 31st March 2020 In addition to a multitude of well-chronicled policy, staffing and supply challenges facing the health-care sector amid the COVID-19 crisis, the outbreak is forcing agencies to consider atypical measures to ensure the health of public-safety communications systems and the people who support them. “Business as usual … kind of ceases to exist,” Greg Rubin, communications […]
Partner content Behind the numbers: How COVID-19 could change the US telecom industry 30th March 2020 As much of the US settles into a “new normal” that includes spending a lot of time on the Internet to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus, the nation’s telecom operators are recording new traffic records almost every day. Importantly, all that traffic may have significant implications – including financial implications – for a wide range […]
Partner content Coronavirus is a wake-up call. Are you listening? 30th March 2020 The ancient philosopher Heraclitus once opined that the only constant in life is change. But there is another one that impacts every city and county organization and the officials who manage them—sooner or later a natural or man-made event is going to wreak havoc with your organization’s operations. In some cases those operations will come […]
Latest 3GPP standards-development work includes new classes of HPUE, progress on mission-critical services 22nd April 2024
Is LMR the best solution for first responders? Should 4.9 GHz license go to the FirstNet Authority? 2 24th March 2024