For decades first responders have been limited to essentially unchanged radio communications for voice. Today, first responders rely on more than 10,000 separate, incompatible, and often proprietary land mobile radio networks. Too often law enforcement, fire, and EMS in the same city, and sometimes within the same department, cannot communicate with each other. As a result, their ability to protect the community’s health, safety, and property can be compromised.
What is FirstNet?
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) grew out of a 9/11 Commission recommendation calling for interoperable communications for all first responders. Many emergency response teams—law enforcement, fire, and EMS—had difficulty communicating with each other on September 11, 2001. Communications difficulties can slow response times, create confusion, and on 9/11 may even have prevented public safety personnel from saving lives.
In response to the Commission recommendation, Congress created FirstNet when it passed The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (the Act). An independent authority within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, FirstNet, is tasked with ensuring the establishment of a single wireless network dedicated to serving public safety professionals in the U.S., including all 50 states, the five territories, and the District of Columbia.
The Act required the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reallocate the 700 MHz D Block spectrum for use by public safety entities. In addition, the Act required the FCC to grant a single license to FirstNet for the use of both the 700 MHz D block and existing public safety broadband spectrum. As such, the network will improve upon the current patchwork of communications systems and frequencies that make it difficult for emergency responders from different jurisdictions to coordinate their efforts.
Based on the same radio spectrum and standards-based technology throughout, it’ll be a single public safety network linking local public safety agencies with state, tribal, and federal agencies that cross most of the geography of the U.S. and its territories through a combination of ground, mobile, and satellite communications systems. Law enforcement officers, firefighters, and paramedics will finally have a communications system that they all can use, across a variety of jurisdictions, at the same time.
A broadband network to support mobile technologies
The FirstNet operating environment will likely be similar to that of newer personal 4G LTE smartphones, where “4G” means the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications technology. In addition to the usual voice and other services of previous generations, 4G provides faster mobile broadband Internet access to laptops, to smartphones, and to other mobile devices. It follows that 4G applications (apps) will include mobile web access, video conferencing, and HD video, to name a few. LTE, an abbreviation for long-term evolution, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.
The network’s standards-based architecture will likely result in cheaper components and facilitate a shift in usage so users embrace services and apps. One goal of FirstNet is to allow first responders to take advantage of evolving, Internet-based mobile communications technology through intelligent devices like smartphones and tablets, as well as wearable technology. Initially, the network is intended to provide Internet-based, high-speed data services that augment the voice capabilities of today’s radio networks. FirstNet plans to enable users to send and receive data, video, images, and text, as well as use voice applications and benefit from the ability to share applications.
Just as smartphones and Internet-based networks have changed the way individuals communicate in their personal lives, FirstNet believes that the nationwide interoperable public safety broadband network will change the way law enforcement operates for the better. And just as one can download apps on smartphones, tablets, or laptops now, once the FirstNet network is established, FirstNet envisions users being able to go to the FirstNet app store to download law enforcement apps for their FirstNet devices.
Priority and preemption for public safety
Like the commercial 4G LTE networks supporting personal smartphones, FirstNet is ensuring the establishment of a wireless public safety network that is data-driven and Internet-based. A key difference between commercial 4G LTE networks and the FirstNet public safety network is that the FirstNet network is being developed specifically to meet the needs of public safety. Unlike the commercial wireless networks that enable personal smartphones, FirstNet’s public safety network will feature priority usage and preemption during large emergencies. The network operating standards will provide local control to public safety agencies, allowing for more control over provisioning, device features, and reporting.
During emergencies where multiple agencies converge in a small area, public safety entities need an exclusive public safety network so they can communicate without interruption. And, with FirstNet, they will have it—especially important during large emergencies when consumers may overload commercial wireless networks to reach families and friends.
Enhanced operationsSmart mobile technology, constantly driven forward by the marketplace, holds great promise for public safety. This is particularly true in law enforcement where officers spend most of their time in the field: on the move in patrol cars, on motorcycles, or on foot. Body-worn cameras, as well as dashboard cameras and intelligent wearable devices connected to smartphones, can improve public safety operations by communicating on-scene data to dispatch and real-time crime centers.
Today, a law enforcement officer chasing a suspect fleeing on foot not only has to pursue and subdue the individual, the officer has to talk on a radio to describe the situation as he or she is running. The officer has to call for backup, describe his or her location, and describe the suspect. In general, officers spend a good amount of time describing what they’re seeing in words spoken into a radio. With the FirstNet network, law enforcement officers will leverage their land mobile radios as they do today, but the goal is that they’ll also have use of smart mobile devices with applications that allow them to wirelessly send real-time information like video to multiple destinations, including other officers.
The network is intended to arm law enforcement and other public safety stakeholders with modern tools to improve operations, whether under typical or extraordinary circumstances. During a routine traffic stop, an officer could transmit real time information to dispatch using their mobile data terminal, patrol car hotspot, or license plate reader systems. As operational tempo increases, the ability for an officer to wirelessly communicate a large volume of information in real-time to a command center during a traffic stop (e.g., live video from a dash or body camera) without ever having to speak into his or her radio could dramatically improve outcomes in life threatening situations.
The FirstNet network will support a range of remote operations. Officers might use video transmitted over the network in conjunction with robots when dealing with explosives; support personnel could monitor the situation from the command vehicle or watch at a safe distance. Officers who have to go to the station to fill out their paperwork now would be able to complete it more easily from the field wirelessly via their department’s record management system using FirstNet’s high-speed bandwidth.
It’s almost impossible to imagine all the new law enforcement capabilities the network could enable. However, FirstNet’s goal is to facilitate a faster, more informed, and better coordinated response to incidents across city, county, tribal, state, regional, and national public safety personnel. When public safety personnel have a common picture of an incident that’s unfolding, they are far better equipped to respond. During crimes in process or medical emergencies, the ability to share real-time images and video of the scene, as well as the locations of responders and locally relevant information, improves communication and outcomes.
Directly inform the proposed build-out plan in your state
FirstNet is consulting with the states, territories, and District of Columbia and will build an individual plan for each state or territory so that the network meets the needs of their public safety communities. The collaborative consultation process is an opportunity for stakeholders like law enforcement to participate in the planning process with the State Single Point of Contact (SPOC) and FirstNet so FirstNet understands and supports stakeholder needs. Each consultation meeting is an important opportunity for stakeholders to directly inform the proposed plan for build-out of the network in their state.
Recurring topics of interest during consultation meetings so far have included coverage, potential users of the network, priority of users, capacity of the network, coordination with federal agencies, affordability, use of existing assets, and deployables. To participate in consultation meetings, stakeholders should contact their SPOC.
Editor’s Note: A list of SPOCs is available at www.firstnet.gov/sites/default/files/20150213_DIR_SPOCs.pdf.