Public safety mobile broadband study

Industry and users eagerly await the results of the Productivity Commission's study into public safety mobile broadband.

In November last year, the federal government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a ‘first principles’ analysis of the most efficient and effective way of delivering a mobile broadband capability for public safety agencies by 2020. The study will consider the “most cost-effective combination of private and public inputs, services and expertise”.

The Commission’s terms of reference were released in March this year and are as follows:

1. Undertake a ‘first principles’ analysis of the most efficient, effective and economical way of delivering mobile broadband capability to public safety agencies by 2020.

2. Consider the most cost-effective combination of private and public inputs, services and expertise to deliver the capability.

3. Consider aspects of this capability such as national interoperability across jurisdictions and agencies, coverage, integration of voice services, security, capacity, resilience, sustainability of arrangements into the future and compatibility with end-user devices.

4. Consider domestic and international developments that might be applicable to Australia.

The announcement of the terms of reference was accompanied by explanatory notes, which said that the Commission needed to pay particular regard to:

1. The most cost-effective combination of private and public inputs, services and expertise to deliver the capability. This should include an assessment of the relative costs, benefits and risks of:

• deploying a dedicated public safety mobile broadband network
• an approach that is fully reliant on commercial networks, and/or a combination of the two.

2. The ability for the capability to:

• be nationally interoperable, within and across agencies and jurisdictions
• operate in both metropolitan and regional Australia
• integrate voice communications that are traditionally carried on narrowband networks
• maintain integrity and security of communications
• ensure accessibility, priority and sufficient capacity for public safety agencies, particularly during periods of peak demand and during a localised incident
• be resilient and maintain continuity of service including under adverse operating circumstances
• consider the sustainability of arrangements in the context of rapidly changing technology and increased demand, including convergence of voice and data services
• be cost effective, in terms of both capital and operating cost
• be nationally available by or before 2020
• be compatible with a variety of end-user devices.

3. Relevant domestic and international reports and experiences (eg, work underway through the Asia Pacific Telecommunity Wireless Group (AWG), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and implementation of similar capability in other countries that may be applicable to Australia.

The notes also said that, in conducting the analysis, “the Commission is to have regard to the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) role as the independent national regulator and technical expert on communications matters, with final decision-making responsibility for allocation of and conditions of access to spectrum. The Commission should also, where practicable, have regard to the Government’s broader review of the spectrum policy and management framework.”

The Commission released an issues paper (pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/public-safety-mobile-broadband/issues) on 20 April and called for comments to be received by 25 May. The next step will be the release of the draft report in August this year, followed in December by the final report, which will be given to the government before being publicly released.

Reaction from industry and users

Needless to say, the whole critical communications sector in Australia is eagerly (perhaps even nervously) awaiting the results of the Commission’s study. Critical Comms contacted several leaders in the field to get their opinions and feedback.

Telstra National General Manager, Government and Public Safety and Security Alex Stefan said, “Telstra welcomes the review to help to identify the best approach to delivering a public safety and security mobile broadband capability in Australia by 2020, and we look forward to participating in the study.”

Australian Radio Communications Industry Association (ARCIA) President Hamish Duff was also supportive, saying, “ARCIA welcomes the Productivity Commission review and will be happy to participate as required. ARCIA members have tremendous experience with public safety agencies and the suitability and cost-effectiveness of various delivery models.” Duff added that ARCIA’s recent report, ‘Valuing mission critical radio services in Australia’, had been forwarded to the Productivity Commission for reference.

Police Federation of Australia Chief Executive Officer Mark Burgess expressed some concerns. “Our major concern relates to the fact no other sector has had to undergo a cost-benefit analysis for access to spectrum - why is it that public safety has to jump through such hoops and hurdles?” he said.

“That being the case, we are confident that the Productivity Commission will come down in favour of a minimum of 20 MHz (2 x 10 MHz) of spectrum being made available for public safety, bearing in mind previous research conducted by the University of Hong Kong, ‘Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) Services and Broadband in Asia and the Pacific’, the London School of Economics study into the ‘Socioeconomic Value of Mission Critical Mobile Applications for Public Safety’ in the EU and the UK, as well as the more recent report for the European Commission - ‘Is Commercial Cellular Suitable for Mission Critical Broadband?’” added Burgess. “All have leaned in favour of 20 MHz of spectrum being made available for public safety. If the Productivity Commission in Australia comes up with something completely different from these reports, one will need to ask why.

“We are, however, concerned about the comments made by Minster Turnbull when the Productivity Commission’s terms of reference were released when he said, ‘It’s very difficult to see how anybody, I’d argue, in government… or a government agency could replicate the density of redundancy and resilience of the telcos’ networks… These wireless networks are going to become denser and denser: the nature of the mesh network will see more and more and more base stations. It’s hard to see how a public safety network, on a standalone basis, could ever compete with that. So the issue is prioritisation,’” said Burgess. “It appears that the Minister is trying to either influence the Productivity Commission’s outcomes or at least pre-empt them.”

Burgess added, “The Minister might need to be reminded about his and the government’s obligations under the Radio Communications Act, and that is ‘… to provide adequate spectrum for Australian defence, national security, law enforcement and emergency services’.

“We will continue to remind the government of its responsibility under the Act,” said Burgess.

UK-based consultancy Quixoticity founder and Managing Director Peter Clemons has a keen interest in the area of public safety communications and is very familiar with Australia’s situation, having been a regular visitor to our shores.

“I actually see this as a positive move with potential global repercussions,” said Clemons. “The terms of reference touch on the main points in this debate and it is to be hoped that all sides of the argument contribute to the discussion.

“We have seen that early efforts around the world to deploy public safety mobile broadband networks, such as USA’s FirstNet and UK’s ESMCP/ESN, have been extremely challenging, with limited progress so far towards final goals,” said Clemons. “FirstNet is being bogged down by excessive bureaucracy, whereas ESMCP is being driven too much by the need to decrease costs by involving commercial networks that have not traditionally been able to deliver mission-critical solutions.

“The study undertaken by the Productivity Commission will give the Australian, Asia-Pacific and global critical communications community the opportunity to reflect on current best practice around the world and decide the best approach to tackling next-generation public safety communications as new technologies, solutions and applications become available over the coming 5-10 years with 2020 the focus of attention for the possible start of deployment of new solutions.”

Clemons said that interoperability at all levels will be the key to success, and that there is a need to develop affordable, truly statewide and nationwide solutions for metropolitan, suburban and rural areas based on the maximisation of social value as well as economic value. He said that Australia also has an opportunity to lead the rest of the world with innovative, forward-looking solutions integrating existing digital PMR with future broadband in a single seamless network for all emergency services.

“Let’s hope this new study creates a new benchmark for public safety mobile broadband and allows a sensible, low-risk, high-value migration,” said Clemons. “I’ll be keeping a close eye on the progress made by the Commission and maybe Quixoticity will make its own submission based on our knowledge of the current status of multiple projects currently active across all continents.

“These are exciting times for public safety, but future convergence with commercial networks needs to be very carefully managed and controlled by public authorities to guarantee the best possible outcomes for everyone,” added Clemons. “We will see new technology, new applications and innovative ways of working and interfacing with the general population. A true paradigm shift is about to occur - an opportunity that comes along once in a generation to make a real difference.”

Image courtesy Concernedcitizen1 / Flickr / CC BY 2.0