UScellular, Tango Tango Offer First Responders Interoperability

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Interoperability is the holy grail of first responder communications. Over the years it has been thwarted by interagency politics, manufacturer feuds and the sheer number of groups that might need to communicate: 17,985 police agencies, 29,705 fire departments and 21,000 emergency management services organizations in the United States.

The U.S. government’s establishment of the First Responder Network Authority and the subsequent buildout of the nationwide FirstNet network has made communications between participating state, federal and local agencies possible on the two 10-MHz-wide blocks of spectrum at 700 MHz (Band 14). 

To bridge the communications gap caused by different radio system, using various frequencies and multiple technologies, UScellular is working with a company called Tango Tango, which has developed what it calls the Internet of Radio, a network of linked radio systems connected to the internet, to increase interoperability among the public safety agencies.  

“With this collaboration, users are no longer limited by the geographical footprint of their traditional radio system which can be limited in range and disrupted by rural or hilly landscapes,” UScellular said. 

The advanced networking, mobile and cloud technologies from Tango Tango coupled with UScellular’s wireless network expand the coverage and capabilities of traditional Land Mobile Radio push-to-talk services used by police, fire and emergency operations.

By connecting almost any device via cellular network to radio frequencies used by public safety, the first responders from different agencies who use the Tango Tango app are able to work together, according to UScellular. Similarly, teams from the same agency are better able to communicate with each other when they are outside of the radio range.

Chilton County, AL, for example, has a digital and analog radio system connected via Tango Tango, which manages the interoperability of sharing those radio system channels between PTT (push-to-talk) users. Interoperability between FirstNet and Tango Tango PTT users is also possible, giving Chilton County police and firefighters full communications visibility across handheld radios, 911 operators, stationary radios, smartphones, tablets and computers, which extends to communications between multiple jurisdictions.

“We’ve been able to expand and strengthen those departments who’ve experienced diminished communication capabilities in the past,” said Beck Mitchell, vice president of sales, Tango Tango. “Our relationship with UScellular will only reinforce this service offering and provide their current customers the opportunity for enhanced interoperability.” 

UScellular has other mission-critical services that it is offering to public safety, such as Data Priority for First Responders and preemption over non-critical data when necessary. The carrier’s 5G can allow surveillance video to be viewed in real time and in higher quality. “UScellular 5G will break through barriers to help you maintain situational awareness inside and outside, so you have the information you need to power your best response,” the carrier said. 

UScellular Critical Connectivity solutions offer first responders priority services, push-to-talk, secure private networks and enhanced land mobile radio (LMR) interoperability that can bundle with unlimited data plans, rugged devices and disaster response to keep teams better connected.

UScellular is not alone, however. Verizon Wireless also offers an interoperability product, called Verizon Frontline, which is a unified public safety platform that provides interoperability, priority and preemption that allows multiple agencies to communicate and share data, “regardless of what network, apps or devices they use.” 

“Interoperability is more than just interconnecting different networks,” Verizon said in a Solution Brief. “It calls for uniform standards to help ensure that quality of service and priority and preemption capabilities are applied consistently across multiple networks. It connects users on LTE networks with users on LMR networks.”

Verizon said first responders in the field can use Verizon Frontline to “seamlessly” interact via a secure interface across all carrier networks and public safety agencies. Verizon Frontline improves response times and coordination of interagency communications on platforms such as Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT) and Group First Response, the carrier added.

Wireless carriers’ investments in software-based agile network design are aligned with the needs of public safety agencies in terms of communications priority, reliability, availability, and coverage, according to an IDC whitepaper, “Public Safety Communications Innovations: Advancing Interoperability in the Era of Transformation,” sponsored by Verizon.

“Wireless carriers are investing in virtualization and SDN designs that will make usage of the 5G network possible, and for public safety agencies and first responders, this makes IoT on high-speed networks an attractive and realistic vision of the future of crisis management,” the paper reads. “Wireless carriers’ vision of 4G LTE and 5G networks will resonate with the public safety market in the future. Management of voice and data communications availability and coverage is naturally going to expand to include connectivity with devices at the network edge.” 

And there have been improvements in standards. Advanced LTE wireless broadband networks have evolved to help meet the data communication needs of public safety agencies, according to Verizon. This resulted in Verizon’s 3rd Generation Partnership Project standards-based public safety products that made interoperability possible not only for voice, but also for video and data and situational awareness.

On Monday, Inside Towers reported that AT&T is collaborating with Motorola Solutions to bring a Mission-Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT) solution to FirstNet this winter, enabling public safety agencies to use Motorola Solutions’ cloud-based Critical Connect for interoperability. The FirstNet interoperable platform will provide options for connectivity between land mobile radio (LMR) systems, the new MCPTT solution, as well as AT&T Enhanced Push-to-Talk, for seamless communication and collaboration.

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