Connecticut Ops In FirstNet ATT Network

CT opts in for FirstNet

Just got this from the CFPC Listserv e-mail;

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Gov. Malloy Announces Connecticut Opts into FirstNet Network

Modernized System Will Enhance Communications Among First Responders During Critical Situations

Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced his decision to accept the State of Connecticut into the federal First Responder Network Authority plan to deliver a wireless broadband network to the state’s public safety community. Known as FirstNet, the state-of-the-art technology will connect first responders to a highly secure, wireless broadband network and enhance communications during emergency and disaster response situations.

In order to inform his decision, Governor Malloy created a working group of subject matter experts and the state went through a competitive RFP process. The Governor took the advisement of the working group and came to the conclusion that opting in would best serve the interests of the people of Connecticut.

“When disaster strikes, communication is critical to the safety of Connecticut residents,” Governor Malloy said. “After careful analysis and consideration of the FirstNet proposal, it became clear that opting in was in the best interests of our state and our first responders. This network will enhance communications for Connecticut’s first responders by providing priority access during disasters or emergencies.”

“Connecticut knows first-hand how important it is that our first responders and emergency management personnel are able to access real-time updates and information,” Lt. Nancy Governor Nancy Wyman said. “This system will add to our communications capabilities and assist those front-line individuals so they can protect the public safety and their own.”

“I would like to thank Governor Malloy for opting into the FirstNet plan and providing Connecticut’s first responder community with this important communication tool,” Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Dora Schriro said. “Every minute matters when lives are at stake and this dedicated network will provide reliable communications to our first responders.”

“Through a competitive process that involved broad representation, we believe that FirstNet will provide the critical capabilities that our first responders need today and a sustainable way to bring innovation to these important public servants for years to come,” Connecticut’s Chief Information Officer Mark Raymond said.

“We’re honored to bring FirstNet to Connecticut and help transform public safety communications within the state,” AT&T Connecticut President John Emra said. “I’d like to thank Governor Malloy for his leadership and commitment to public safety. His decision will not only usher in a new era of public safety for his state, but it will also give Connecticut’s first responders immediate access to the critical communications tools they need to keep themselves and those they serve safe.”

FirstNet is a product of the U.S. 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that a dedicated public safety interoperable, nationwide mobile broadband network be created to enable continued communication during a disaster or other large-scale event or emergency. In order to fulfill its mandate, FirstNet put out an RFP for which AT&T was the successful bidder. Under federal law, each state, including Connecticut, had to either opt into the FirstNet/AT&T system or opt out and build its own system.

So what does all this mean?
What are the capabilities?


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firebuff17 said:

So what does all this mean?
What are the capabilities?

Click to expand...

https://firstnet.gov/resources/firstnet-and-fire-services

"The launch of the network will provide mission critical, high‐speed data services and non-mission-critical voice to augment the capabilities of today’s Land Mobile Radio (LMR) systems."

Note that FirstNet is not intended to replace traditional two way voice radio systems.

Thank you for posting this.
I was actually just on the page reading and researching.

I guess I am still trying to figure out how it all works and what exactly a municipality would use it for here in CT.
I am small simple minion, a lot of big words and “lawyer” fluff in a lot of the articles, statements, and website of FirstNet.


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So it looks like it will not affect our day to day listening.

Lockedin said:

So it looks like it will not affect our day to day listening.

Click to expand...

No, it won't. Not unless the agency really goes full into CAD based dispatching. As in dispatching via mobile terminals. Even then, voice will be favored for a long time to come.

firebuff17 said:

I guess I am still trying to figure out how it all works and what exactly a municipality would use it for here in CT.

Click to expand...

Right now, look at it as something that's available. It's not going to change day to day dispatch operations at all.
What it does do is improve data transmission for mobile CAD terminals, information lookups, etc. This will be something the cops will like, maybe not so much for fire agencies, right now. EMS will probably start embracing it as it will provide the ability to send patient telemetry straight to the hospital.

Eventually you will see more "data enabled" functions for public safety. It's nearly impossible to guess at this stage what that will look like, but here's some ideas:
- Live video from on scene. Know what you are getting into before you get there. Dispatchers will see whats going on rather than waiting to be told.
- Floor plans for fire fighters, swat teams, etc. on a hand held device, heads up display, etc.
- health telemetry from fire fighters, know when they are getting tired so they can be swapped out.
- Faster access to public safety databases. Check licenses, ID's, license plates faster and over wider areas.

Many agencies are already running some sort of mobile data terminals for police. Some fire agencies are, too. Some of these systems are running over dedicated radio channels that provide very slow data speeds, slower than dial up modems, as in 9.6K if you are lucky. This will vastly improve that by providing LTE speeds and greatly improve coverage.
Some agencies are already using 3G, 4G, LTE modems for their mobile data terminals. What FirstNet will give them is priority access to existing LTE, called "ruthless preemption", will prioritize public safety access to consumer LTE 700MHz access over the general public. Eventually FirstNet will have it's own 700MHz spectrum (700MHz Band 14) for public safety use.

This 700MHz Band 14 will be added to existing AT&T cell sites. Some additional build out will happen to improve coverage in rural areas. It will NOT be nation wide 100% coast to coast coverage, though.

What will really be interesting is to see what the tech industry does with this dedicated bandwidth for public safety. There are a lot of good ideas floating around out there. There's a company producing body cameras that will live stream via FirstNet back to dispatch so dispatchers will know exactly what is going on without having to wait for an officer to tell them. That will allow for faster dispatching if things go sideways or the officer is incapacitated. Back in the spring at IWCE, there was a company showing body armor that had sensors in it. The sensors could connect back to dispatch and tell dispatchers if the body armor took a hit. It would tell them where the hit was, how severe, medical telemetry, etc.
There's been heads up displays for fire fighters to see floor plans as they walk through a building. Systems that upload medical telemetry to the hospital from EMS. Telemedicine is another option, basically puts a doctor in the ambulance remotely.

There's probably a million other things that will show up as this grows out.



Push to Talk audio is in the works, but even FirstNet says it's not intended to replace traditional push to talk radio systems. Think more of a NexTel like service that will work across the country, and those talkgroups could be connected to existing public safety radio systems as needed. That might be a great solution for interoperability, if bugs can be worked out.

What you'll start seeing (and is already out there) is purpose built hand held/mobile devices for public safety. Ruggedized smart phones for officers, etc. The big radio companies are already building/developing two way radios with integrated LTE. LTE device manufacturers are building ruggedized handsets with features for public safety, louder audio, longer battery life, more durable, etc.

Will be interesting to watch this roll out over the next few years.

Thank you mmckenna. That is a big help. Puts into perspective a lot better.
Sounds like it could be a very useful tool.
Any info what it would cost a municipality? Monthly cost per device? Single price for up to certain amount of data? Etc


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firebuff17 said:

Thank you mmckenna. That is a big help. Puts into perspective a lot better.
Sounds like it could be a very useful tool.
Any info what it would cost a municipality? Monthly cost per device? Single price for up to certain amount of data? Etc

Click to expand...

Device costs will be similar or slightly higher than what consumers pay now for a similar LTE smartphone like device. Public Safety will no doubt enjoy some discounts due to state contract pricing.

As for the discounts on devices…
I work for a state agency. I have a work provided iPhone (24x7 on call, need to access systems, VPN, etc to do my job) My old iPhone would no longer make it through the day on a charge. I checked into getting the battery replaced, however under the state contracts, it was ridiculously cheap to just replace it with a new iPhone 8. The state negotiated contracts are -WAY- below what consumers pay from the big cellular companies. About half what I paid for my wife's new iPhone when hers failed.
FirstNet is going to be similar. It won't compare to what consumers pay for service.

Sounds good. Thanks


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Connecticut Gov Malloy signs agreement.


Gov Malloy Announces Connecticut Opts into FirstNet Network

Connecticuts communication system

I have to say, they need to do A LOT of testing to make sure this works. I used to live in Connecticut and listened to scanners since I was in my early teens (very early 90's). I watched as radio communications grew and went digital and very complex. While all this happened, each department, whether it was fire and ems or police all complained they needed another form of communication to be able to assist other agencies who were on a different frequency. So another frequency (ies) were set up covering anywhere from one tower to several towers across the state. Then one department in that mix would get new equipment on a new system with new frequencies and then they would have another problem so they would add a fix so that everyone could talk to this dept on their new system. From the time I was a teen to now, I have seen connecticut turn into what looks like layers of radio systems from 30mhz to 900mhz and beyond get layered like 10 boxes worth of bandaids all layered on a large cut. I moved to Maine and up here in my area, you have counties, some larger than the state of CT running one dispatch for just about everything (multiple police departments and fire/ems departments with everyone on a set of frequencies that all neighboring counties have access to. The state police in Maine also just recently upgraded to a p25 system which has analog to digital access on several repeaters on towers across the state so that departments running analog (police, sheriff and fire and ems) can talk back to the state police dispatch. All state police officers also have all the analog frequencies programmed in their radios and monitor them while on the road and will switch back and forth and communicate directly with cars and dispatch in a split second while doing an agency assist. Listening to the systems in CT which are all Fort Knoxed up so that other departments cant communicate directly, It makes me wonder why someone hasnt demolished every radio system in the state of CT and rebuilt it from the ground up so that units in Waterbury could communicate with units in Plainfield if a situation that big were to happen where the whole state was helping each other. Listening to communication up here and listening to it in CT shows me a huge difference. Communication up here in Maine is so so simple from frequency to dispatch to agency. How many systems are the CSP running these days to communicate between each other and to communicate with other agencies? Is this FirstNet thing just another bandaid on top of the hundreds that are already there? Why waste more tax payer money every time a new technology comes floating through the air.

This will be a waste of time and money!!! The state spent hundreds of thousands for interop before. Nearly 1000 CSPERN radios installed in police cars across the state only to never be used. Unless it was the entertainment of someone sitting on a mic, it was pointless. Go into a police car today. You'll most likely find the mic wedged under a seat. Ask a cop what it's for and you'll get the response, "I don't know, we never use them". There is no SOP for interdepartmental communications. I spent 20 years in law enforcement and 12 more and counting working for police related vendors.

I don't mean to come across as negative but it's more than opinion. It's based on 32 years of experience in the field.

It doesn't sound like you guys understand what FirstNet is. I'd recommend reading up on it over on the website.

Apples and Oranges....
For the Apples (Radios) Why do all of these interop radios not work? Is it the system or is it a lack of training and policy?

As for the Oranges(First Net) - Dedicated Data ..... Something we dont have now, and seem to be utilizing hot spots and commercial cellular devices all the time. Would be nice to have a dedicated system "FOR" public safety, not just Public Safety squeezing into a Public System.

I can't help but be skeptical about the actual costs once it deploys. AT&T charges something like $10 per month to enroll a conventional AT&T cell phone in the existing national "priority" telecommunications system. Plus another DOLLAR PER MINUTE when the user activates a call in the system. An extra buck per minute just to give priority routing to public safety calls??

Makes me think that same AT&T is going to draw blood for a private 4G or LTE network.

I've got WPS on my phone, and I've never seen a charge, even when I've placed calls.

The WPS rules say they can charge, but it's pretty rare. They do charge a few bucks for initial activation.

Again, as stated, apples vs. oranges. WPS is different than FirstNet One is voice, one is data. One is on the consumer network, one is on it's own network.
Users will not need to do anything from their FirstNet enabled device to access FirstNet.

Again, I don't think you guys understand what FirstNet is. It'd be a good idea to read up on it, first.

Thorndike113 said:

It makes me wonder why someone hasnt demolished every radio system in the state of CT and rebuilt it from the ground up so that units in Waterbury could communicate with units in Plainfield if a situation that big were to happen where the whole state was helping each other.

Click to expand...

We have a system like that in place. It's called 8call. A national interops set of frequencies.

MMc-
If you've never seen charges for WPS, that's wonderful. But AT&T (among others) doesn't seem at all unclear about it, they tell customers "you WILL be charged" and they've got customers scared to use it, because of those charges.
You're right about me being unclear about FirstNet, all I've read were their press releases, in various disreputable newspapers (ahem) that talk about building a new network, and not much else. I figured I'd wait and see what comes, when it comes, instead of looking at more promises.
After all, that's the same AT&T that said all 2G service would be dropped last year because 5G would be deploying this year, and they needed the rack space in the towers. Seen any 5G lately? Seems like 2020 is the new target date, someone forgot to mention, their plans (all carriers) will also mean maybe 5x-10x more sites. Oooops.
And if FirstNet is going to be 4G (which is just 3G with enhanced backbone in the US, it isn't LTE) while the public network is going to 5G...isn't this going to be an issue as well?
"Great White Father who sits in Seattle and speaks with forked tongue" comes to mind.

If you could summon up the spirit of Jimmy the Greek, he STILL wouldn't give you odds on what will actually happen. Even if CT did officially opt into FirstNet this week.