The FCC’s Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability published...
The FCC’s Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability published a set of recommended minimum technical requirements for FirstNet, the national network for first responders created by spectrum legislation signed into law in February. Among its conclusions is that the…
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use of LTE will be critical to the success of the network. “The adoption of LTE technology will fundamentally change the way first responders communicate,” the report said (http://xrl.us/bm893w). “Additionally, the establishment of FirstNet will fundamentally change the ways public safety networks are built, operated and maintained. Adoption of LTE technology, a technology embraced by commercial service providers worldwide will bring significant benefits to first responders. Adoption of LTE makes the [Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network] part of a multi-billion dollar commercial technology ecosystem, allowing first responders to take advantage of current and future advances in wireless communications technology, wireless devices, applications, networking, security and network infrastructure.” The report also emphasized the importance of allowing FirstNet subscribers to roam on commercial LTE and 2G/3G networks. It stressed the importance of testing. “The ability to provide quantitative data for FirstNet for each of these interconnections among network interfaces should be determined by a specific and thorough test regimen that ensures not only interoperability but also operability of the network,” the report said. “This of course doesn’t assume that every piece of equipment deployed in the network itself has been tested. Instead, it is expected that a representative model of equipment has been tested and passed in a controlled environment under predetermined test conditions, before other models of the same type can be deployed in the network.” Adoption of basic interoperability requirements is the responsibility of the FCC board. Much of the remaining work will be done by the still-to-be-named FirstNet Board, under the supervision of the NTIA. “Two-Way Voice radio has been the predominant form of communication employed by public safety to date. With the advent of wireless broadband, we are at the beginning of the next major epoch in mission critical communication for first responders,” the report said. “The future wireless broadband network will offer additional data, video and voice services to further improve the effectiveness and safety of first responders."