Mobile Broadband Communications for Public Safety: The Road Ahead Through LTE Technology

1 Public Protection and Disaster Relief Communications

1.1 Background and Terminology

The public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) sector brings essential value to society by creating a stable and secure environment to maintain law and order and to protect the life and values of citizens. PPDR services such as law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical services (EMS) and disaster recovery services are pillars of our society organization. The protection ensured by PPDR services covers people, property, the environment and other relevant values for the society. It addresses a large number of threats both natural and man-made. The PPDR sector is for most nations intimately connected to the public sector of society, either directly as part of the governmental structure or as a function which is outsourced under strict rules and intensively monitored by government’s contracting ministry or department. Regulatory, organizational, operational and technical elements underpinning an effective PPDR preparedness can vary substantially from country to country, even between regions or municipalities in countries where local preparedness might be under the auspices of regional or local public authorities.

One important task of PPDR services is to deal with emergency and surveillance situations on land, sea and air. The most important part of this work is done in the field, so all the tools must match the needs accordingly. Radiocommunications are extremely important to PPDR ...