Radio over Wireless Broadband Pilot Project Report

Emergency responders—police officers, firefighters, and EMS (emergency medical service) personnel—typically use hand-held or vehicle-mounted LMR (land mobile radio)s to exchange data and voice communications across disciplines and jurisdictions. But as emergency responders gain access to wireless broadband connections, they are increasingly using commercial cell phone networks to communicate as well.

Because LMR and broadband systems serve specific and different needs, they were not designed to communicate with each other. The lack of interoperability between these systems can compromise emergency response operations when emergency responders using a broadband system are unable to communicate with responders employing an LMR system.

Working on behalf of DHS/OIC (Department of Homeland Security/Office of Interoperability and Compatibility) to address the capability gap between LMR and broadband systems, we launched the ROW-B (Radio Over Wireless Broadband) pilot project in early 2007. Click for a brief report about this successful proof-of-concept pilot project.

More about ROW-B.