A critical new initiative is underway to accelerate the development and adoption of mission-critical services (MCS) including mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT), mission-critical data (MCData) and mission-critical video (MCVideo) for critical broadband.

The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) is against Long Term Evolution (LTE) interoperability between the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and other commercial carriers, while T-Mobile said such interoperability is essential, according to FCC filings.

A pair of general orders for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois that extended civil deadlines will not affect deadlines in Motorola Solutions’ theft of trade secrets lawsuit against Hytera Communications. Additionally, a district judge denied a joint emergency motion from the two parties laying out a timeline for post-trial briefings.

Law enforcement officials from around the country emphasized the importance of strong social distancing policies in keeping law enforcement officers healthy and on duty amid the COVID-19 pandemic, during a March 27 webinar hosted by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and FirstNet, built with AT&T.

AT&T announced new developments around the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) including a limited mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) introduction, free smartphones with contracts and the first high-power user equipment (HPUE) certifications.

AT&T announced that it is the winning bidder for spectrum licenses covering more than 99% of the U.S. population following the close of FCC Auction 103. The company said its winning bids will allow continued improvements and advancements to its wireless network.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Bruce Crawford recently addressed public television station managers to share his vison about the future of the Army’s information and communications technology needs. He spoke about leveraging existing infrastructure and capabilities to improve information sharing, resiliency and readiness for the Army. He acknowledged that the commercial sector is developing and deploying advanced technology that the Army can use to effectively meet these needs. Crawford said that taking advantage of these developments, rather than creating everything internally, can speed deployments and better equip and inform our troops.

Direct mode, also called device-to-device (D2D) communications — or more precisely, the lack of it — is seen to be one of the main risks in moving from narrowband professional mobile radio (PMR) technologies exclusively to broadband Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-based solutions. However, at times, the root cause is lost in the discussion.

The U.S. Naval Air Systems (NAVAIR) selected Hughes Network Systems to provide satellite communications systems integration for the U.S. Coast Guard on its HC-27J aircraft. Under the $3.5 million agreement, Hughes will integrate beyond-line-of-sight (BLoS) systems to strengthen the Coast Guard's airborne communications on the move (COTM), including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR).

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) unanimously approved changes to the Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) charter. The PSAC was created to advise and guide FirstNet to ensure public safety’s needs are met with the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NSPBN).