Raytheon, IPWireless to deploy public-safety network in Colorado

Raytheon Co. (RTN) will build out a public-safety LTE contract awarded under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, winning an $8.7 million contract to provide Adams County, Colo., with a public-safety network at 700 MHz. The 15-site systems will connect more than 1,500 first responders in Adams County.
Raytheon will design, configure, install, test and train users on the system, deploying LTE public-safety equipment from IPWireless. The LTE equipment uses Band 14, which is a 5-megahertz by 5-megahertz channel that has already been granted to public safety, said Jon Hambidge, CMO at IPWireless. If Congress approves using D-block spectrum for public safety, IPWireless’ equipment can support another 5×5 channel. The network will be able to support next-generation communications, including streaming video, remote data access and information sharing. A prolonged problem for first responders nationwide has been a lack of interoperability between various public-safety systems and the ability to support bandwidth-hogging content like video streaming. Using LTE technology for public safety can largely mitigate those problems. As such, the Federal Communications Commission, the Association of Public-Safety Officials International Inc. (APCO) and the APCO Global Alliance have approved LTE as a public-safety standard. Because LTE has been built on 3GPP standards, interoperability between different equipment vendors should not be a problem. IPWireless already has done interoperability testing with five infrastructure vendors, Hambidge said.
The LTE network is expected to be deployed over the next 21 months and is funded through an ARRA-2009 stimulus grant under the U.S. Department of Commerce BTOP. “We expect the entire state of Colorado and even the surrounding region to build upon and expand the core infrastructure that will be provided through this project,” said Brian Shepherd, deputy director, Adams County Communications Inc.
Public-safety networks at 700 MHz using LTE technology are different than commercial networks in the same spectrum band using the same RF protocol because they are designed specifically for first responders, Hambidge said. Some proposals before the FCC have suggested that public safety could use commercial LTE networks to avoid the expense of separate networks. However, Hambidge said commercial networks are designed to support millions of subscribers nationwide. Public-safety networks, on the other hand, handle mostly local traffic and support fewer subscribers. In addition, public-safety networks can be designed to give priority access to the first responder out in the field, rather than in the office.
“LTE is positioned to meet both current and future regional communications objectives for first responders for years to come,” said William Iannacci, director of Raytheon’s Civil Communications Solutions business unit.
Motorola Solutions Inc. and the City of San Francisco are also building out an LTE network at 700 MHz under a $50 million government grant. The initiative has been controversial since it was not open to bid.
BTOP said it has awarded seven grants totaling approximately $382 million for projects to deploy public safety wireless broadband networks in its June report to Congress.