Public Safety Networks from LTE to 5G

1Public Safety Networks from TETRA to Commercial Cellular Networks

1.1 Introduction

The telecommunications industry has been around for several decades and the changes that have occurred have completely changed how the world operates. In fact, because of the telecoms industry, the entire globe is now connected in one way or another. Legacy and traditional telecoms has also seen lots of “band‐aid” technologies in which legacy equipment is combined with more legacy equipment in order to achieve new contracts or investments. That time is mostly over and the theory is that in the next three years, the entire telecoms industry will switch to more modern and agile platforms. These changes will revolve around and include 4G, artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, virtual reality, 5G, and cross‐industry alliances. Public safety depends on fast and efficient levels of communication in order to properly relay time‐sensitive and critical pieces of information, which could mean life or death. Unfortunately, many first responders today still rely on fragmented networks and decades‐old wireless tech. They are using land mobile radio (LMR) for the majority of their communications, but the need for a faster, more reliable cellular/mobile communication has arrived. Wireless broadband will most likely be the technology to meet that need.

The Public Safety Group made considerable advances toward fortifying national preparedness and enhancing emergency communications abilities. ...