In-building systems a challenge for 800 MHz rebanding 15th September 2009 One of the most telling statements made during last month’s APCO conference in Las Vegas was from Steve Proctor, executive director of the Utah Communications Agency Networks (UCAN), who noted that his organization logged an hour and half of administrative time for every hour of technical time spent on rebanding.
Time for new digital fireground tests drawing near 8th September 2009 Early in 2007, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) alerted its members to reports that the digital handsets used in many new radio systems were incompatible with the ambient noise frequently found in most fireground situations, including alarms from breathing apparatus and nearby chainsaws.
Wide-area unlicensed solutions approach ‘show me’ stage 3rd September 2009 TCM Mobile and xG Technology are hoping to change skeptcism of unlicensed solutions by providing reliable, wide-area coverage with systems that are cost effective. For commercial applications, the biggest savings are that no spectrum has to be purchased and that both companies believe they will be able to sell their base stations for a fraction of the cost of base stations used in traditional cellular networks.
In-building codification isn’t easy, but worth the effort 1st September 2009 Recently, I wrote a story about the nationwide trend toward codification of in-building coverage for first responders, a task that theoretically has been made easier by the completion earlier this year of international and national codes that provide a blueprint for local government entities to follow. That might be true, but codification still is no walk in the park, according to Chris Baker, a captain with the Roseville (Calif.) Fire Department.
Broadband’s flying stop 1st September 2009 Let’s say that a rural town cut a deal with a commercial carrier that was financed with stimulus money. The carrier would build the middle mile to connect services to the Internet and also lease its spectrum to the town for the last mile. That sounds feasible until you consider that the stimulus money is going to run out and the whole thing will need to support itself.
SkyTerra’s grab for broadband stimulus money could be a bellwether 26th August 2009 Satellite provider SkyTerra has applied for $37 million in broadband stimulus money — money that the federal government is granting to entities willing to bridge the digital divide. But SkyTerra’s proposal calls for increasing broadband adoption by the public-safety community, not the average citizen for whom the program appears to be primarily intended.
Maybe it’s time for a new 911 funding game plan 25th August 2009 Last week at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) annual conference in Las Vegas, Greg Rohde, executive director of the E-911 Institute, expressed his frustration with the lack of progress the 911 sector has made toward what is expected to be a very bright future borne of some amazing technological advances. At the heart of the inertia is a lack of funding.
Recent broadband deployments go beyond public safety 20th August 2009 To say that broadband, particularly 700 MHz broadband, has been a hot topic here at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) conference would be an understatement. Not only have there been several sessions on the subject, but all of them have been well attended, including a couple that left more than 40 people standing because all seats in the room were taken.
Network migration emerges as a key focus at APCO conference 17th August 2009 When asked to describe the ideal mission-critical voice for their community, most public-safety communications officials are more than willing to describe their needs and desires quickly. Of course, what typically takes a lot longer is figuring how to reach that point.
Leveraging commercial technology is the right thing to do — in the right context 12th August 2009 When I wrote an article last month about a movement among some fire departments and rescue squads to drop their pagers in favor of an emergency dispatch solution from Omnilert that allows messages to be transmitted onto a host of commercial mobile devices, it threw some readers into a tizzy. How could these fire departments be so irresponsible as to replace dedicated public-safety alerting systems with commercial ones? And how could I be so irresponsible as to not be critical of it?
Latest 3GPP standards-development work includes new classes of HPUE, progress on mission-critical services 1 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