Coverage, reliability and security are the top concerns for first responders for adopting commercial networks, according to an industry survey, and a market research executive said he doesn’t expect Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks to replace LMR for the next 10 to 15 years.

The Shelby County (Tennessee) Emergency Communications District implemented Nearmap high-resolution aerial imagery to geocode and plot new addresses and developments into the 9-1-1 mapping systems.

Nedaa, the Dubai government secure networks provider, plans to share its current critical communications tactics in the public-safety domain when it participates for the sixth consecutive year at the Critical Communications Middle East and North Africa (CC MENA) Conference and Exhibition Sept. 24 – 25 in Dubai. As the host operator, Nedaa will detail its 4G network infrastructure and the technology’s crucial role in supporting public-safety enforcement and emergency response initiatives.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), postponed a nationwide test of the emergency alert system (EAS) and wireless emergency alerts (WEA) until Oct. 3.

Global critical communications association TCCA released a white paper on TETRA connectivity to Long Term Evolution (LTE).

The 2018 Winter Institute will be held Oct. 22 – 26 at Disaster City on the campus of Texas A&M University (TAMU) in College Station, Texas. This year’s programming will include the Winter Institute exercise, a public-safety broadband workshop and Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) grant recipient support.

Two public-safety answering points (PSAPs) in North Carolina Sept. 16 have their 9-1-1 calls rerouted to another PSAP with location information following Hurricane Florence. Onslow County Communications and Pamlico County Communications were the two PSAPs according to the FCC’s Sept. 16 report based on data from its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).

Polaris Wireless executives met with FCC officials to discuss a CTIA report and cover letter that the company said “obscure Polaris Wireless’ success in achieving highly accurate Z-axis fixes.”

The U.K. Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) released a prior information notice (PIN) relating to the air to ground (A2G) aircraft communications system project. Air to ground has been an area flagged by ESMCP officials where more work is required for the Emergency Services Network (ESN).

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) submitted comments specific to the Spectrum Pipeline Act, which requires the FCC to provide an opportunity for public comment before submitting a report to Congress that analyzes the results of the 2015 3.5 GHz rule changes and proposals to identify additional spectrum between 6 and 57 GHz.