Despite $7 billion in federal grants and other spending over the last seven years to improve the ability of public safety departments to talk to one another, most experts say that it will be years, if ever, before a single nationwide public safety radio system becomes a reality, reports the NY Times.
“For a brief moment in time, a solution is readily within reach,” says James A. Barnett (right), chief of the FCC’s public safety and homeland security bureau. He told a Congressional hearing this summer. “Unless we embark on a comprehensive plan now, including public funding, America will not be able to afford a nationwide, interoperable public safety network.”
Public safety groups, with the backing of some members of Congress, are arguing that they need to be given control of a larger chunk of broadband spectrum to ensure that they have adequate network capacity during emergencies.
Ericsson and Motorola are teaming up to deliver LTE for the public safety sector, reports Fierce Wireless. The alliance brings together the world’s largest mobile network equipment vendor (Ericsson) with Motorola’s public safety communications business unit. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In a statement, Ulf Ewaldsson, VP and head of radio networks at Ericsson, claimed: “LTE enables a number of new applications and video communication from the site of accident to the communication central. Improved situation awareness empowers efficient decisions, secure assets and property and may, in the end, save lives.”
Motorola last month received a $50 million award from the government to build a public safety LTE network in San Francisco in the 700 MHz band (above).
But officials from the city of San Jose and the county of Santa Clara asked that the federal government “suspend or postpone” the $50 million grant for public-safety broadband until questions about the procurement process are resolved.
“The process utilized to select the vendor for this process does not reflect our standard for accepted procurement practices,” San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Santa Clara County Executive Jeffrey Smith stated in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.
The Public Safety LTE system is expected to be installed this year and is expected to be operational in early 2011.
The Public-safety gold rush is spawning strange bedfellows, notes Fierce Wireless. Motorola, which is selling its cellular business to Nokia Siemens Networks for $1.2 billion, is ironically passing on its own (or NSN’s) infrastructure and partnering with Ericsson for LTE infrastructure, once their fierce rival. Meanwhile, Harris, which introduced their BeOn push-to-talk LTE solution, is working with Nokia Siemens.
In a related matter, the FCC moved the 2011 deadline that required narrowband radios operating below 512 MHz be replaced. Now it’s 2013. For many small public-safety entities — like volunteer fire departments — with an annual budget in the hundreds of dollars, the idea of spending $3,500 on new radios to replace systems that work fine has been unpalatable. Motorola, Harris and EF Johnson like the plan.
Alcatel-Lucent is promoting its 700 MHz Public Safety solution and recently made a data call on it. Alca-Lu is using the 10 MHz of broadband frequencies licensed to the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST) which it will use in combination with the 10 MHz of adjacent frequencies known as the D Block in the U.S. These frequencies combined form Band 14.
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials likes Senator Jay Rockefeller’s bill, which would allow first responders to resell D Block spectrum and receive additional funding by selling off tv spectrum.
The FCC’s plan would require the D Block licensee to provide a network that covers 75% of the U.S. population by the end of the fourth year, 95% of the U.S. population by the end of the seventh year, and 99.3% of the U.S. population by the end of the tenth year. The FCC wants that 10 MHz chunk shared by public service and commercial users. Taxpayers don’t need to fund the construction of a dedicated, multi-billion dollar public safety network if commercial providers build it, say promoters of the FCC plan.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T, both with 700 MHz spectrum from 2008 auctions, want to see the D Block go to public safety. So does Motorola, which dominates the market for first responder communications equipment and handsets. T-Mobile USA and Sprint Nextel Corp., eager for more spectrum, support the FCC proposal.
The FCC’s plan — supported by the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission — “will ensure the build-out of a network that is cutting edge, reliable, and cost-effective,” FCC spokesman Rob Kenny said. It would auction off the 10 MHz “D Block”, but allow public service agencies to use the commercial frequencies. The FCC says it lowers cost and increases broadband penetration for everyone.
Public safety users currently use 800 MHz for most voice traffic, and recently were given an additional 10 MHz previously used by Nextel. In the 700 MHz Public Safety Band, they received (free) the equivalent of four television channels (roughly Ch 63 & 64 and Ch 68 &69) in the 700 MHz band. Half those frequencies will be used for narrowband voice, the other half for broadband (LTE).
Now Public Safety has their eyes on a potential cash cow – the “D-Block”.
In the $10 billion 2008 spectrum auction, the 10 MHz “D Block” (758–763 and 788–793 MHz), didn’t get the minimum bid of $1.3 billion (pdf). While public safety agencies can’t resell their Nextel spectrum, the “D-Block” might be a horse of a different color. But first they’ve got to grab it.
Buying 10,000 Clearwire hotspots with dual-mode WiMAX/LTE backhaul, some might argue, might be cheaper, faster and better by at least an order of magnitude. WiFi-enabled, dual-mode satphones aren’t rocket science. They work in emergencies.
After Hurricane Katrina, terrestrial public service radios didn’t work. Towers were down and generators ran out of juice. Only satellite phones were effective. It took months to get police radios back.
You’d think public service agencies and satellite provider LightSquared (formerly TerreStar) might get together. Skeptics (like me) think it’s more about cash and empire building then delivering service.
Public service lobbyists like Motorola want taxpayers to build a dedicated, stand alone, nationwide wireless network and buy all their radios. They make a compelling argument. Why these same agencies don’t currently use their 10 Mhz of Nextel frequencies (on 800mhz) or their 12 Mhz for broadband (on 700 MHz) is less clear.
Critics like the FCC, say cellular operators have already built a nationwide broadband network. First responders will get priority access to all of it. If public service agencies try to build their own LTE cellular network, they won’t get the coverage they need – or the funding. Instead, a joint public/private system – utilizing the “D Block” – would benefit everyone with better coverage, improved service, and lower costs.
Related Dailywireless articles include; The 700MHz Network: Who Pays?, Public Safety Spectrum Grab, Public Safety: Show Us The Money, SF Announces LTE First Responder Net, Clearwire to Test LTE, Apps for the City, LightSquared: 5K Basestations by 2011, Phoney Spectrum Scarcity, D-Block: It’s Done; Congress Pays, The 700MHz Network: Who Pays?, Big Bucks for 700 MHz Public Safety, FCC: Stop Complaining about Interoperability, Police & Fire: No Broadband for You, Commentary: Future of Public Safety Communications, New York Cancels Statewide Wireless Network, New York’s $2B Statewide Network Close to Canceling, M/A-COM to NY: We’re Good, NY Gives Tyco 45 days to Fix Network, Battle for Oregon’s State-wide Radio Net, Twitter 911, FCC Okays 21 Public Service Nets, FCC: Stop Complaining about Interoperability, Police & Fire: No Broadband for You, The 700MHz Network: Who Pays?, The National Broadband Plan, National Broadband Plan Previewed, D-Block: It’s Done; Congress Pays, AT&T/TerreStar Ready Satphone Service, TerreStar Phones Home, Motorola + SkyTerra Team for 700 MHz/Sat Radios, Alvarion, Open Range To Build 17 State Net, San Diego State: Wildfire GIS to Go, Emergency Mapping, Cascadia Peril, Commentary: Future of Public Safety Communications, New York Cancels Statewide Wireless Network, New York’s $2B Statewide Network Close to Canceling, M/A-COM to NY: We’re Good, NY Gives Tyco 45 days to Fix Network, Battle for Oregon’s State-wide Radio Net, Oregon’s $500 Million Statewide Wireless Network.
