The NSW Telco Authority is evaluating the telecom industry to help implement the national mobile broadband network for emergency services.
The new initiative, Public Safety Mobile Broadband (PSMB), aims to provide emergency service organizations (ESOs) with a mobile broadband capacity to facilitate more accessible communication across Australia.
According to the NSW website, “PSMB is a joint Commonwealth, state and territory initiative to provide the reliable communications needed for our public safety agencies to continue to keep Australians safe.”
The authority claims that emergency services will be able to deploy technologies like body camera live broadcasts, drones for bushfire monitoring, and personal location tracking with access to mission-critical mobile voice and data services.
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The PSMB is currently in a proof-of-concept trial phase led by the NSW Telco Authority.
The trial’s findings, which started in May 2021 and will end in August 2022, will help shape the national PSMB’s design.
To update the market on the PSMB’s current situation and gather further market intelligence for NSW and the National PSMB program, the authority has now published a request for information (RFI).
A few areas meant to gather market intelligence are a foundational infrastructure for PSMB, multi-carrier roaming, deployable assets, prioritized site hardening, coverage expansion, and vehicle-as-a-node.
The document said, “This RFI is an information-gathering process in which the National PSMB Program seeks to collect information and opinions from the telecommunications industry with deep experience in operational and critical communications.”
“The intent is to gather further market intelligence and inform NSW and National PSMB Program to add to the knowledge available. The RFI is not a precursor to procurement but intended to develop our understanding of the inputs, challenges, and opportunities in implementing a nationwide PSMB.”
To discuss a nationwide, interoperable PSMB capability using current telco mobile networks, the federal government initially established a group of the commonwealth, state, and territory authorities in 2016.
The NSW Telco Authority started scouring the telecoms industry for facts and suggestions to guide the project’s path a year later, to track service delivery in January 2018.
In 2021, the authority revealed that TPG Telecom and Optus would test the PSMB network and collaborate with network builder Nokia to develop the proof-of-concept.
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Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
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