Federal funding coming for public safety LTE networks

The board of FirstNet ruled that seven jurisdictions around the country can indeed use federal stimulus money to build out high-speed wireless LTE systems to use for public safety communications channels.

FirstNet is the First Responder Network Authority - an independent authority within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA. FirstNet was created in 2012 "to establish a single nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network."

The LTE networks were, in fact, proposed in 2010 and planned to use money from the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). But in the wake of congressional wrangling over spectrum use and presiding jurisdiction, work on the LTE build-out halted as administrators waited for FirstNet and the FCC to issue guidelines.

Apparently, now the procedural barriers have been removed, although a finished nationwide system is well in the future. Much of the obstacles are financial. Congress allocated $7 billion to build a nationwide public-safety broadband network. But, according to one report, "...most agreed that $7 billion would not be enough money to fund LTE build-outs throughout the nation..."

Still, this move by FirstNet is a significant step, one that Speed Matters supports.

FirstNet opens door to BTOP projects for public-safety LTE (Urgent communications, Feb. 12, 2013)

FirstNet (website)