FirstNet is continually striving to better understand the services and experiences the public safety community needs and expects from the FirstNet network. To help with this effort, FirstNet is holding regional Consultation Task Team (CTT) meetings with states and territories to discuss and engage on critical factors that need to be considered in network planning and implementation, such as quality of service, priority, and preemption (QPP). FirstNet Region V recently met with Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan to talk about public safety’s needs.
The follow blog on the Region V CTT meeting is a repost from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Going wireless in an emergency: A new kind of superhighway
By Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Communication Networks
July 14, 2016
We’ve all experienced it: sitting on a packed freeway during rush hour and suddenly hearing sirens. Watching a vehicle full of first responders inch its way slowly through the traffic jam while you think, “I hope the person they’re going to save doesn’t die before they get there!”
Interestingly enough, people at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Communication Networks (DPS-ECN) are applying this same concern to a wireless broadband network. This week, a five-person team from Minnesota joined similar teams from Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, along with representatives from FirstNet, to talk about how they’re going to manage broadband traffic for first responders (in case you’re wondering, FirstNet is a first responder network authority that has been obligated by Congress to take all actions necessary to ensure the building, deployment and operation of the nationwide public safety broadband network).
To continue the highway metaphor, think of all the things you use the internet for: sending photos of your kids to their grandparents. Watching your favorite shows. Working. Maybe you ask your refrigerator to send you a photo of its interior so you know what to buy at the grocery store, or your dryer pings you when it’s finished drying your clothes. And of course, fire, law enforcement and emergency services now use internet in the field, and will only continue to do more—to download maps or plans of burning buildings, to text one another or dispatch to check in, or to send video of an active scene to a command post, for example.
And that’s where FirstNet comes in. When there is a major threat to public safety, FirstNet will help prioritize internet traffic based on role (are you a first responder? Are fire services needed more than law enforcement?), emergency, and type of use. Most of the time, the public’s internet speed would merely slow down (to allow more and faster bandwidth to the first responders who need it), but if absolutely necessary, it might temporarily stop altogether.
During this week’s meeting, states within FEMA Region V will present a “wish list” of ways they would like FirstNet to work for their specific needs. FirstNet will use that feedback to create a framework of operation once the network is finally launched here. A contract for providers will be awarded in November, and after that, the new superhighway can begin!
