Partner content AT&T: We moved hundreds of tower sites in 2019 to get better deals 4th June 2020 AT&T said it continues to negotiate with cell tower owners in order to reduce spending on tower space. And the company is boasting about the results its hardball negotiating tactics are generating. Specifically, the company appears to have terminated more than 600 agreements with tower owners during 2019 in pursuit of cheaper tower fees. “We […]
News Many COVID-19 practices, impacts will shape public-safety landscape long term, speakers say 2nd June 2020 Many measures implemented initially in reaction to demands associated with the COVID-19 pandemic likely will become long-term components of public-safety communications, particularly in the 911 arena, public-safety representatives said during a recent webinar. Mel Maier, captain of the emergency communications and operations division of the Oakland County (Mich.) Sheriff’s Office, said the COVID-19 situation has […]
News Sonim Technologies launches RDK-3 package with optional interoperability, mesh-networking capabilities 29th May 2020 Sonim Technologies recently announced the formal launch of its latest versions of the Rapid Deployment Kit (RDK-3 and RDK-3i), which is designed to provide portable broadband connectivity in a rugged case to entities in locations where communications coverage does not exist or needs to be enhanced. “This is a rapid-deployment kit to get you up […]
News Public-safety speakers laud PTT over LTE ease of use, performance during COVID-19 pandemic 23rd May 2020 Ease of use, audio quality and cost effectiveness are key reasons why push-to-talk-over-LTE technology has become an accepted part of modern public-safety communications—although not at the exclusion of land-mobile-radio (LMR) voice—according to speakers from the EMS, fire and law-enforcement communities. TJ Kennedy, co-founder of The Public Safety Network consulting firm and former FirstNet Authority president, […]
Audio Zebra Technologies: Chris Sullivan discusses COVID-19 test-center solution leveraging FirstNet 22nd May 2020 Chris Sullivan, global healthcare practice lead for Zebra Technologies, explains how the company’s devices and software delivered across the FirstNet LTE system help reduce wait times and improve accuracy within temporary COVID-19 test centers that have been established throughout the nation. Sullivan spoke with IWCE’s Urgent Communications Editor Donny Jackson as part of the […]
News FCC’s Pai asks Congress to repeal law mandating auction of public-safety T-Band spectrum 20th May 2020 FCC Chairman Ajit Pai last week took the initial step to conduct a mandated auction of T-Band spectrum to commercial users in February, but he simultaneously urged Congress to repeal the 2012 law requiring the bidding process for public-safety airwaves by describing the notion as “a bad idea.” Pai announced last Friday that he circulated […]
Video PowerTrunk: CEO Jose Martin discusses North America TETRA deployments, interoperability with P25, MCPTT 16th May 2020 PowerTrunk CEO Jose Martin provides updates to his company’s key deployments in North America, primarily with utilities and transit authorities, while also highlighting the fact that PowerTrunk has developed solutions that let users of its TETRA systems have interoperable communications with users leveraging P25 or 3GPP mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT) technologies.
Audio ESChat: Josh Lober highlights features in upcoming release of application 15th May 2020 ESChat CEO Josh Lober details upcoming enhancements to the company’s push-to-talk application, including multimedia messaging, location tracking and mapping, and the ability to support both inter-carrier interoperability and inter-system interoperability, which are particularly important to public-safety and military users. The Android version of the new ESChat application is scheduled to be released in August. […]
News Virginia 911 center leverages remote capabilities, FirstNet to help address COVID-19 challenges 15th May 2020 A Virginia 911 center is combining remote solutions with FirstNet connectivity as part of a multi-pronged strategy to ensure operational continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic today and to evaluate new technological options for the center in the future. Doug Campbell, deputy director of the Department of Emergency & Customer Communications (DECC) for the city of […]
Video IWCE: Stephanie McCall highlights features of Virtual Connections portal 15th May 2020 Stephanie McCall, show director of IWCE, talks about the new Virtual Connections portal, which can be found at https://virtualconnections.iwceexpo.com/. This portal provides visitors with free access to two weeks of daily webinars–available for live participation, as well as on-demand viewing–and a hearty choice of multimedia information about the Virtual Connections sponsors. The first live webinar […]
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
