IN A FEW WEEKS AN experimental LTE service in the 700 MHz band will be running in Regina, bringing the plan of having a national voice and high speed data communications network for fire, police, ambulance and other first responders one step closer.
"Our (data network) core has arrived, we’re in the early stages of installation, and within a month or six weeks we'll have a bank of 14 facilities that – subject to completion of licencing – will be operational," Steve Palmer, executive director of the University of Regina's Collaborative Centre for Justice and Safety (CCJS), where the core is located, said in an interview.
The platform on which the test network will run has been paid for by a $2.3 million grant announced in June from the federal Western Economic Diversification fund. The CCJS is tasked with creating a platform which public safety agencies could use to plug into with their communications systems.
The test network – which includes equipment and services from Juniper Networks, Dell and General Dynamics – will also allow Regina first responders to get a feel for applications small and medium-sized businesses may want to sell to agencies.
Another test network run by Industry Canada's Communications Research Centre has also been operating in Ottawa, which is examining signal penetration and coverage. Simon Fraser University's Telematics Research Lab is testing portable systems that can be deployed in the field.
Without interconnected networks it's difficult for various emergency agencies to talk and send live images to each other during emergencies, a particular problem during crises that can cross municipal, provincial or national borders.
However – following the lead of the U.S. – the Canadian federal government three years ago gave the green light to the creation of a national public safety broadband network here and set aside 10 MHz of bandwidth for it. In April, following sustained lobbying from first responders and the provinces, Ottawa added another 10 MHz, bringing the future network in line with the 20 MHz that U.S. first responders will have.
"The planned Canadian network is not that far along."
Industry Canada and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have already agreed on ways the two public safety networks can interface. The U.S. network, called FirstNet, may issue a request for construction proposals early next year, part of a proposed US$126 million budget.
The planned Canadian network is not that far along. Industry Canada and Public Safety Canada still have to decide on the financing, structure and governance of the network, which to some degree is expected to be under the authority of the provinces because they control local responders. Ottawa and the provinces have been pondering submissions for several years and, after the federal election, might release a proposed framework for comment.
"We anticipate Industry Canada (will) do another consultation –as soon as this fall – that will outline the conditions of licence for the spectrum: Who can hold it, what can be done with it, who can use it," Eric Torunski, executive director of the Canadian Interoperability Technology Interest Group (CITIG), which represents a wide range of first responders, said in an interview. Some time later the government will publish the final conditions "That will be the kickoff to actually building the network.”
Despite the amount of study, research, and work already accomplished here are many questions Ottawa still must answer, including how the service will be funded, made secure, where the core network and radio access networks will be located, who sets interoperability rules, how the provinces (which oversee local police, fire and other responders) will be brought in, how commercial wireless carriers can be partners and who would have access to the network. Beyond police, fire and paramedics, provincial and municipal emergency management offices, Canada Border Services, the Coast Guard, Search and Rescue, utilities and port authorities might also want in.
Some federal seed money is expected to get it finally off the ground, and it is possible Ottawa will donate the spectrum.
One possibility is Shared Services Canada hosting the core, with an integration platform in each province in territory. The regional entities could form public-private partnerships to help build their networks; Ottawa and the provinces could create is tax credits for industry participants. The entities could also charge membership fees.
One idea floated by Ontario first responders is that in order to boost their capacity, commercial cellular carriers could lease access to the public safety spectrum in rural areas, where demand won't be high. However, in an emergency public safety agencies would be able to reclaim the spectrum when needed.
In 2012 a Montreal workshop that included first responders, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) agreed a federally incorporated non-profit corporation should hold the spectrum licences, and develop standards and interoperability rules. Thirteen regional entities representing provinces and territories would be subsidiary licencees.
Public Safety Canada was asked about a possible governance structure. A spokesman said the governance model hasn't been determined within the three years which have passed.
Torunski expects more test licences will be issued next year, followed by experimental networks, in 2017/2018. "The next three to five years we'll definitely see some semblance of a network," he said.
