FCC unanimously approves LTE standard for nationwide public safety network

The FCC’s been looking to establish a nationwide public safety network since the early days of the infamous 700MHz spectrum auction , and while it never quite accomplished that task, the commission has made a small but important step — it’s unanimously decided that Long Term Evolution (LTE) will be the one ring that binds all future chunks of public safety radio band. Of course, this wasn’t a terribly hard decision for the FCC to make, as major commercial cellular carriers and a number of regional public safety agencies have already invested in LTE equipment for the 700MHz band… and the decision doesn’t yet specify a voice standard . All that’s been decided upon is how those countless packets of data will float over the air. How will disparate groups of first responders communicate with one another in the event of a national emergency? That’s what the organization is asking you right now — feel free to contact the FCC anytime within the next 45 days with your proposal. Continue reading FCC unanimously approves LTE standard for nationwide public safety network FCC unanimously approves LTE standard for nationwide public safety network originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink