Ericsson, Motorola Solutions, Telstra and Qualcomm Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated have achieved the first LTE Broadcast enabled PTT call on Telstra’s commercial LANES Solution. Telstra’s LTE Broadcast capability allows PTT group calls to be delivered simultaneously to all members of a group call with high assurance, low latency and separated from regular mobile traffic.
The enabling technology is based on the 3GPP release 13 standard known as MC-PTT over LTE. The technology is viewed as complementary to existing highly secure and available mission critical LMR services and can cost-effectively extend assured PTT service to a greater number of users via mobile devices. It will allow PSAs (Public Safety Agencies) and enterprises to do two things: extend PTT capabilities to more users via both hardened devices and regular smartphones; and provide complementary coverage and capacity to LMR networks.
The successful LTE Broadcast enabled PTT call was made possible through Ericsson’s flexible and efficient network infrastructure, Motorola Solutions’ depth of experience in mission-critical communications for public safety, Qualcomm Technologies’ LTE Broadcast supported Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ platform and Telstra’s vast network resources and expertise in defining and deploying next generation communications standards and capabilities.
Mike Wright, Telstra Group Managing Director, Networks says: “Telstra has been providing PTT services to PSAs and business for many years. As our customers’ needs change, we are working to ensure they have prioritized access preferential treatment for voice and data services to help them keep the community safe. With this world-first LTE Broadcast enabled PTT call, we have shown that our LANES network can provide reliable prioritized communications to both PSAs and business customers with critical communications needs. PTT is part of Telstra’s LANES roadmap for our Public Safety customers and complements the data and VoLTE services already available using this world-leading technology.”
This paves the way for Telstra, Motorola Solutions and Ericsson to undertake further network trials this year and for commercial services to be available from 2018, harnessing the prioritized access and priority data capabilities that LANES offers for critical communications today.
Per Narvinger, Head of Ericsson RAN says: “This first LTE Broadcast enabled PTT call on Telstra’s live commercial network demonstrates the capabilities of Ericsson’s LTE solution and is a good example of how LTE Broadcast (eMBMS) can deliver unique new services for our customers.”
Bruce Brda, Executive Vice President Products and Services with Motorola Solutions, says: “Customers all over the world rely on Motorola Solutions to deliver mission-critical communication solutions and we look forward to advancing both the standards and technologies needed to deliver this new service. While mission-critical LMR systems will continue to provide the critical means of frontline communication for many years to come, this new 3GPP based technology provides an excellent way of extending the reach of LMR networks to many more technology users, regardless of whether they communicate with a smartphone, hardened device or a desktop computer.”
The solution combines the capabilities of Telstra’s prioritized access LANES Solution with Ericsson’s LTE Broadcast solution, Motorola Solutions’ Wave 7000 PTT technology and its LEX L10 mission-critical, ruggedized LTE handsets , powered by a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ processor with LTE modem .
The solution delivers critical communications capabilities including optimized push to talk latency, flexible talk group management and call pre-emption for LTE devices such as smart phones, tablets, and desk top computers. The use of LTE Broadcast allows faster call setup times, reduced PTT latency and uses efficient downlink bandwidths for group PTT calls.
The addition of an assured PTT service to Telstra’s prioritized access LANES Solution comes after the launch of Telstra’s LANES® Emergency solution in 2016, which included VoLTE for Public Safety capability. Combined, the LANES solution and LTE Broadcast enabled PTT will provide PSAs and critical applications with prioritized access and preferential treatment for voice and data services. The teams will continue to develop the full 3GPP Mission Critical Push to Talk Release 13 and 14 capabilities and undertake network testing to optimise solution performance and measure key metrics such as coverage, latency, and capacity.
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