Mission-Critical LTE

Software can be a major driver for the advancement of communications technology, but hardware also can play a major role in expanding the capabilities of law enforcement agencies. For about two years, the Georgia State Patrol has been using a mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) network as its primary communication system. L3Harris XL-series devices—P25 radios that also support LTE communications—allowed the agency to expand a preexisting relationship with wireless carrier Southern Linc, benefiting both officers in the field and dispatchers.

This article appeared in the September/October issue of OFFICER Magazine. Click Here to subscribe to OFFICER Magazine.

Rob Butts, Professional Communications Market Manager for L3Harris Technologies; Capt. Brian Screws, Chief Information Officer for the Georgia State Patrol; and David Keith, Director of Sales and Marketing for Southern Linc, spoke during a session at the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials annual conference in Orlando in August about the benefits of mission-critical LTE networks.

Finding a solution

Prior to the project, the Georgia State Patrol relied on a state-owned VHF system that was outdated. “We found ourselves in the situation where when we needed communications the most—when there was a hurricane passing through or tornadoes or an ice storm in North Georgia—we found ourselves in a situation where our communications were unreliable,” he says. “For years, we’ve had a relationship with Southern Linc and utilized their LTE network as a backup. So, whenever our VHF platform went down, all of our sworn people and those in our dispatch centers had radios or phones on Southern Linc’s network.”

The LTE network proved a great resource, giving the agency case study after case study of the real-life scenarios where in times of emergency, the state-owned assets left them stranded, but Southern Linc would still be there. When it came to finding a long-term approach, the Georgia State Patrol had to weigh its options. “We started realizing that more and more we were having to rely on Southern Linc’s LTE network because it was more reliable than our VHF network,” he says. “Really, what married the difference is once we saw the marriage of both worlds— when we started being able to connect the (L3Harris) XL-series of radios and were able to combine the world of LTE and broadband along with our P25 systems scattered around the state. When we could merge those together, that really gave us a silver bullet.”

State legislators had looked at two proposals. One was from a previous vendor who planned to build a statewide P-25 standalone network. “We were fortunate in the state of Georgia that Southern Linc had already built a mission-critical push-to-talk network in our own backyard. Our legislators saw the price tag that would come along with building our own network versus using someone else’s network that was here and reliable and already functioning. That was a big deal for our legislators.”

Screws says that the Georgia State Patrol was already using the available resources as a mission-critical network, but it took the right device to come along for the agency to help it all come together. The state-owned VHF system now serves as the backup, while the MCPTT serves as the primary communication network.

Mission-Critical Networks

According to Keith, a mission-critical network is a combination of the network and the applications an agency has and ultimately how it is used to serve the public. “From the LTE standpoint, we had a great opportunity to deploy that,” he says. “It gave us a lot of opportunity to have some really good use cases for device-driven products. It’s important to build the security in that, the inherent resiliency and reliability in all those products and services.”

He says the cybersecurity capabilities of the Southern Linc company are strong and is something that is important for MCPTT networks. “There’s a lot of inherent security in our networks, so we take each of those products and services—not just from a network standpoint—all the way through the ecosystem to what ultimately would be delivered to the customer.”

Screws echoed the importance of cybersecurity. “For us, the security and encryption was an extremely important element. We’re trying to be forward-thinking. The security of the network was extremely important to us.”

With push-to-talk as the Georgia State Patrol’s primary method of communication, troopers now have a statewide radio system for a fraction of the cost. “We were doing something that was unprecedented. We were nervous about that, but what this radio allowed us to do was from day-today—we’re operating on LTE push-to-talk as our primary method of communication, but at any point, should we decide that we need access to our P25 systems, with the push of a button on the radio, we have access to everything that was in our previous radio system that is still there.”

The agency gained new technology, but didn’t lose any of the redundancy offered by its existing network. The benefit to dispatchers was a new network that brought new technology and capabilities to the agency. When it comes to interoperability, the Georgia State Patrol was able to bridge LTE and LMR radio traffic so that it could communicate with other agencies in the most rural parts of the state. “Our troopers are now talking to their local agencies, where they had never been able to without the LTE network.”

During the session, Butts asked both Screws and Keith questions about the issues and ultimate solution for the Georgia State Patrol’s communications needs but came to the conclusion that the decision wasn’t necessarily made based on the superiority of one type of communication versus another. “It sounds to me the way you’re describing it is it really is not necessarily LTE versus P25 versus whatever,” he told the two men. “It’s really the way you build the network that makes it mission-critical.”