Keeping safe with 4.5G broadband trunking

The face of the future

Public safety services have traditionally used private network trunking systems such as TETRA and P25. However, this kind of communication system is no longer able to meet growing public safety requirements – be it network coverage, service experience, or maintenance costs – due to limitations such as transmission speeds, dispatch capabilities, and inconsistent trunking system standards.

Traditional private network trunking only supports narrowband voice and SMS, but not broadband data services like video and HD surveillance. This degrades public safety services, leaving user experience stuck in the 2G era. As a former New York police chief put it, "the wireless communications capabilities of a 16-year-old teenager's smartphone far surpass what police and auxiliary police are equipped with."

With today’s proliferation of broadband networks, LTE-based broadband trunking represents the future of emergency network solutions.

Broadband trunking: A new chapter in public safety

LTE: standards and future evolution of broadband trunking networks

Traditional private network trunking standards were jointly developed by a number of standards organizations, including TCCA, OMA, and ETSI. Oriented toward private users, the system's overall framework is completely loose-coupled and the industry chain is relatively closed. There are significant issues with interoperability between different vendors, leaving no scope for evolving the technology to support broadband data services. 

In cooperation with trunking standards organizations, government regulators, and operators, 3GPP formulated a new Work Item (WI) focused on public safety. The WI created an entirely new public safety standards framework based on LTE network architecture, enabling Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT) services on LTE.

3GPP's R13 set out new standards for an end-to-end standards framework in 2015, using standardized and opened interfaces solved the issues of interoperability between different vendors and the closed industry chain. R13 defines key LTE public network trunking functions, including MCPTT, IOPS, GCSE, and proSE. It also enables emergency video and calling services on operator networks. With the freezing of R13, operators now have new commercial opportunities.

Rebuilding the capabilities to build safe cities

As of 2015, more than 30 countries around the world had started assessing, planning, or deploying LTE public trunking networks with a view to building new communications capabilities for safe cities. The progress of these projects in various countries is as follows:

United States: planned to build a national public safety broadband network in 2012 called FirstNet using the LTE 700 MHz spectrum with a US$10 billion investment. In March 2014, 231 sites were built in Los Angeles as part of the first phase of the project at a cost of US$175 million.

United Kingdom: A national public safety broadband LTE network is planned for construction from 2015 to 2020, which will allow operators to build public safety networks over the LTE public network spectrum. The first phase of construction began in 2015 with an investment of £1.2 billion.

South Korea: In 2014, the country began building a national broadband emergency disaster prevention network with a total investment of more than US$2 billion. The first phase kicked off in 2015, with the aim of constructing 205 base stations and distributing 5,000 terminals in Pyeongchang County at a cost of US$40 million.

New model for public safety networks

The UK Home Office announced in December 2015 that it would partner with the UK's largest wireless operator EE to build a public safety network. EE's 4G mobile network will provide public safety services for the UK's 330,000 public safety workers, including police, fire, and ambulance crews. Carrying broadband trunking services on a public LTE network for the first time will represent a historic step.

The decision by the UK government to replace the existing TETRA network with an operator’s public network to provide public safety services, with very stringent requirements, was not made lightly. A specialist company was commissioned to carry out detailed comparative analysis and feasibility studies on carrying broadband trunking communication services on TETRA vs LTE public networks. The research concluded that using a public network offered obvious advantages in terms of coverage and service experience, and would be able to meet demanding requirements on dimensions such as latency.

Estimates show that deploying a trunking system on an LTE public network will save the UK government £1 million a day compared to a private network. Over five years, the new solution will see network construction and maintenance costs fall from over £2 billion to £1.2 billion. At the same time, with government investment, EE will be able to improve network coverage and user experience, and boost its brand equity.

Brand building

Operators cover large chunks of the population, but public safety services place higher technical and service experience requirements on operator networks, including reliability, coverage, public safety user priority, and emergency communications safeguards.

After winning the contract for building the UK's new public safety network, EE CEO Olaf Swantee said that, "We’re immensely proud to be selected to deliver this vital new network...we've worked closely with police, fire, and ambulance crews to show the power of EE's 4G network in helping save time and save lives. We will now work tirelessly to deliver a highly resilient, truly nationwide 4G network to serve all of Britain's public safety workers." EE's wireless network will more than likely become the UK's most reliable network, offering the best coverage and experience, which will in turn provide a huge boost for EE's brand value.

Lighting up new markets with LiTRA

According to estimates, LTE trunking services will have been deployed to 150,000 base stations globally by 2020, creating a market worth tens of billions of dollars. With the rapid growth of broadband trunking services, we’re set to see a wave of trunking systems constructed over public LTE networks in the near future.

LTE integrated Trunked Radio (LiTRA) supplants traditional narrowband push-to-talk (PTT) services, including voice and SMS, and provides broadband trunking (e.g. Push to Video) as well, fully leveraging existing operator LTE networks. By utilizing the broadband trunking capabilities provided by LiTRA application servers, operators can quickly deploy national public safety networks and enhance the commercial value and brand of their networks.

LiTRA is based on open 3GPP protocols and uses an open interface. This enables operators to work with more partners to provide a wide variety of services such as telemedicine, video surveillance for major events and incidents, and drones. LiTRA's openness also maximizes compatibility with the mature LTE terminal industry chain, bringing in a large number of partners that operators can work with to build future national public safety networks and safe cities.

With the construction of LTE networks accelerating around the globe, LiTRA will help operators enter the new arena of national public safety network solutions, adding a new string to their revenue-creation bow.