Motorola in Public Safety Talks with More Localities
Motorola is in talks with state and local governments about public safety opportunities, Rick Keith, director of product management, said in an interview. Motorola will commercially launch LTE public safety devices in Q3 of 2011, he said.
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There are public safety opportunities in states like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois, in addition to a Bay area network and other previously announced projects, Keith said. The company has about 22 active contracts under proposal and 30 additional contracts under discussion, he said. The vendor has several pilot programs and trials in place, Keith said. The U.S. is a test bed for public safety networks and devices, he said. “If everything goes well in the U.S., we can see several other countries following suit with similar band plan.” Several countries in Asia and Europe are interested in U.S. work toward a nationwide public safety network, among other public safety issues, he said.
The company isn’t just looking at major metropolitan areas, Keith said. Some 700 MHz waiver applicants are small counties with potentially significant growth opportunities, he said. Many small counties and cities traditionally have been the regional central authority for radio communications, he said. In those cases, counties and cities could start with a relatively small system, and if it’s successful, they could expand it in their regions, he said. The vendor is putting out equipment ahead of launch, which will give it enough time to stabilize the system and figure out real-world throughputs and optimize the system, he said. Interoperability is a key part of Motorola’s LTE public safety roadmap, and the plan includes other innovative communications capabilities, he said.
Limited budgets at local governments, availability of government funding and local public safety needs are the main factors the company considers when it partners with public safety entities, he said. When local government only has so much money to spend, “our job is to make sure they spend the money in a way that matches what they want to accomplish, not what new technology is available,” he said. Meanwhile, when grant programs like BTOP are available with matching funds required, Motorola will help applicants come up with strategies to make the best use of the money, he said.