News FirstNet official clarifies evaluation process, public-safety pricing goals 26th April 2016 After receiving bids from offerors on May 31, FirstNet evaluators will engage in a lengthy, negotiation-filled process in an effort to forge the best arrangement with its contractor on behalf of public-safety users, a FirstNet official said during a session at IWCE 2016.
News Could cybersecurity issues undermine migration efforts to IP-based solutions? 21st April 2016 Internet Protocol (IP) has revolutionized the communications industry, enabling significantly greater functionality and lower costs than many would have dreamed possible even two decades ago. Will the growing cybersecurity problem prevent IP-based solutions from reaching their full potential?
Commentary Here’s the aspect of FirstNet’s independence that should matter most to public-safety agencies, potential offerors 19th April 2016 Questions about FirstNet’s status as an “independent authority” have existed since the organization was created four years ago. While the legal debate continues, the current procurement process raises another question: If FirstNet is financially independent as outlined in the RFP and is immune to government shutdowns, do the legal details really matter to key stakeholders?
Commentary When do people ‘need to know’ about FirstNet? The sooner, the better 12th April 2016 As FirstNet continues to make progress toward selecting a contractor, state and local entities could be just a year away from making important short-term and long-term choices regarding public-safety communications. Conducting outreach to key stakeholders in the interim could be key to those decisions being made with the best information possible.
News FirstNet extends due date for RFP bids to May 31 11th April 2016 Teams making proposals for the right to build and operate FirstNet’s nationwide public-safety broadband network will have an additional 18 days to prepare their bids, as FirstNet extends the request-for-proposal (RFP) deadline to May 31.
News Fire-code proposals call for in-building coverage for public safety 11th April 2016 Several fire-code proposals designed to support in-building LMR and LTE coverage for public-safety users recently received favorable recommendations in preparation for Fire Code Hearing Committee meeting, which will be conducted April 17-19 in Louisville.
Commentary Will mission-critical PTT be FirstNet’s ‘killer app’? 7th April 2016 With all of the broadband functionality promised by public-safety LTE, could mission-critical push-to-talk—a decidedly narrowband technology—be FirstNet’s “killer app” that drives public-safety adoption?
Commentary What’s up with WhatsApp for emergency communications? 7th April 2016 When terror struck Brussels last month, one thing that quickly became evident was how much more needs to be done to ensure effective and efficient communications for first responders worldwide.
Commentary Here are some notes about FirstNet that you may not have known before IWCE 2016 5th April 2016 Responses to FirstNet’s RFP are due on May 13, but there still was plenty of new information shared about the proposed public-safety broadband network during the recent IWCE 2016 conference.
News Officials provide more specifics about mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) standard for LTE, FirstNet deployment 3rd April 2016 Functionalities associated with the new mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) standard for LTE are designed to meet or exceed the capabilities and performance benchmarks for existing land-mobile-radio (LMR) systems, but real-world testing is needed to determine whether MCPTT can overcome some physics limitations that will allow it to meet the needs of first responders, officials said during an IWCE 2016 session on the subject.
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? 3 24th March 2024
Video Check out key takeaways from Disaster Management Symposium webinars, register to view archives Video: Opening of the Expo Hall on day three of IWCE 2023 Lynk CEO Charles Miller: The sky’s the limit
