Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games official radio communications supplier Motorola Solutions reported strong performance from its radio network supporting the games.

Like many in public safety, I’ve been watching with great interest as manufacturers develop new and improved devices intended for use on public-safety networks that expand on previous versions’ functionality, survivability and overall suitability. Device features such as improved ruggedness, user-replaceable batteries and positive-locking accessory side connectors are major improvements as device manufacturers zero in on products that will work in the public-safety world.

Aviat Networks announced a new $4.5 million project with a large county government in Nevada to support countywide first responder communications. Police, fire and emergency services throughout the county will have increased capacity and reliability for their critical voice and data communications.

In a public notice, the FCC disseminated lessons learned from major network outages and reminded communications service providers to review industry best practices to ensure network reliability. The commission also touted its new network reliability page on its website to help ensure that network providers, public-safety entities and the public can readily find the FCC’s work in promoting industry best practices.

The National 911 Program awarded five new contracts for projects to advance emergency communications, kicking off the federal fiscal year.

Software developed by APD Communications is the first to be officially certified to support the U.K. Emergency Services Network (ESN). The Network Approval Testing Service (NATS) accredited APD’s Cortex, a company statement said.

Sublette County, Wyoming, selected Harris to transition its conventional analog communications system to a new Project 25 (P25) Phase 2 digital network that provides increased reliability, coverage, interoperability and functionality.

Motorola Solutions is providing a radio networking solution to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Queensland, Australia, 4 – 15 April. Motorola was selected as the official TETRA communications supplier last year.

AT&T and Crown Castle signed a new agreement simplifying and expanding their long-term leasing deal for wireless network infrastructure. Under the new agreement, leasing management and operations are streamlined to allow AT&T to efficiently deploy new technologies and increase network capacity, a statement said.

SK Telecom (SKT) and Nokia are conducting a trial of Long Term Evolution (LTE) public-safety technologies in South Korea. The trial in Pyeongchang, Jeongsun and Gangneung is being conducted with first responder teams to enhance communications and response time in emergency situations.