“Location, location, location” applies to the world of public safety as well as the real-estate industry. Location plays a vital role in many aspects of public safety’s daily responsibilities. It is important to know both the location of a 9-1-1 caller and the location of the incident being reported. When dispatched, first responders need to know the location of the incident, and when on the scene, they need to locate citizens who might be trapped in a building or otherwise need to be guided to safety. Finally, while first responders search for people and pets, the incident commander, at minimum, needs to be able to track locations of the responders.

First responders in northwestern Minnesota and those serving the White Earth Reservation will see a coverage boost with a new purpose-built cell site as part of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) buildout. The site, located between the White Earth Reservation and Itasca State Park, is part of FirstNet’s network expansion in Minnesota.

The buildout of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) network was at about 66% as of Nov. 13, and AT&T expects to reach 70% buildout of the nationwide broadband network by the end of the year, Igal Elbaz, vice president, wireless technology, AT&T, said during the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference. The next reimbursement milestone for AT&T under its contract with FirstNet is 80%.

Public-safety representatives from nine federally recognized tribes in the southern and central region of California met Oct. 3 for a training exercise to learn more about the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). The Inter-Tribal Long Term Recovery Foundation (ITLTRF) and the Southern California Tribal Emergency Management (SCTEM) group organized the event with FirstNet and the FirstNet Program at AT&T.

Sierra Wireless launched its AirLink managed network service with embedded First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) connectivity. The service delivers proactive FirstNet device management, 24/7/365 technical support and a purpose-built FirstNet Ready mobile router in a single package.

The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) laid out more detail about its concerns with the FCC’s proposed rules for indoor location accuracy for 9-1-1 calls. The FCC is expected to vote on the draft order Nov. 22.

There are 161 certified devices for the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) network, according to a recently released document from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is charged with developing a list of devices that meet standards for access to the FirstNet network.

A team from Carnegie Mellon University won Public Safety Communications Research’s (PSCR) 2019 Haptic Interfaces for Public-Safety challenge, while Haply placed second in the challenge.

Officials from the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) met with FCC officials Nov. 15 to discuss the FCC’s public notice seeking comment on petitions for a declaratory ruling and rulemaking filed by the Boulder (Colorado) Regional Emergency Telephone Service Authority (BRETSA).

The New Mexico Department of Information Technology (NMDoIT) filed an ex parte letter with the FCC saying that it strongly supports full interoperability between the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and other public-safety providers.