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NPSTC/CSS Jointly Submits Broadband Deployable Systems Report

April 05, 2017

National Public Safety Telecommunications Council

Broadband Deployable Systems in the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network:

A Report from the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council and the Defence Research and Development Canada's Centre for Security Science

For over 2 years, the NPSTC CSS Broadband Deployables Working Group, a joint U.S./Canada effort of more than 150 participants, has met to research and produce a comprehensive report on the use of Broadband Deployable Systems. This document defines public safety requirements for the operation and use of LTE Broadband Deployable Systems (BBDS). It provides background information and informative text on many technical challenges, operational issues, and governance considerations, which impact the use of these systems by first responders.

This report considered extensive inputs and comments by a wide variety of stakeholders in public safety communications, including representatives of U.S. and Canadian first responder communities at the local, state/provincial/territorial, tribal, and federal level, as well as domestic and international communications service providers, manufacturers, other industry segments, and consultants.

The report includes five main components:

Operational, technical, and background information. This information is contained throughout the report in the various chapters relating to specific BBDS components and issues.

Public safety technical requirements. Fifty-four technical requirements have been identified, which articulate necessary capabilities of BBDS technology.

Deployment considerations assume that BBDS can be owned, dispatched, and operated by local/state/provincial/federal agencies, and by the NPSBN contractor. There will be operator training issues for first responders, public safety technicians, and FirstNet contractor teams.

Technical challenges. A series of technical challenges has been identified that may inhibit the capabilities that are expected from the utilization of BBDS by public safety agencies.

Conclusions and recommendations. The Working Group identified 18 conclusions, which illustrate public safety's expectations of BBDS technology and 16 action items to articulate a "path forward" for the implementation and use of BBDS.

NPSTC's Governing Board approved this report on March 31, 2017. It was transmitted to the FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) on April 4, 2017. Harlin McEwen, Honorary Chair, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), thanked Claudio Lucente, Working Group Chair, for leading the Working Group in the production of this critical work. Kevin McGinnis, FirstNet Board, echoed Chief McEwen's comments, saying that FirstNet considers this work to be valuable. Douglas Aiken, NPSTC Vice Chair, on behalf of the Governing Board, added his thanks to Mr. Lucente and the Working Group for this important project accomplished by the U.S. and Canada.

(For more commentary on the BBDS report and also on the recently released UAS report, see the Paul Kirby article on the NPSTC Blog)

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Support provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, and the National Program and Protection Directorate, Office of Emergency Communications. Points of view or opinions expressed are those of the originators and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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