Samsung has launched the world’s first standards-compliant public safety network with Mission Critical Push to Talk (MCPTT) capabilities in South Korea.
The company has been working with the country’s leading mobile operators on the deployment since 2018 and completed the rollout last month.
The Public Safety LTE (PS-LTE) network combines MCPTT and evolved multimedia broadcast multicast service (eMBMS) – a technology used by the broadcast industry to support multiple streams of video – to enable the simultaneous transmission of data to 2,500 user devices per cell.
- These are the best business SIM-only deals around today
- And the best business broadband deals
- Here are the best business mobile phone deals
ESN delays
These two technologies provide first responders with the reliable, immediate communications afforded by radio systems with the data-rich capabilities of a mobile network. Capacity of the PS-LTE network is two times the capacity of the previous system and there is nationwide coverage across 700MHz spectrum.
The network also links with South Korea’s maritime (LTE-M) and railway (LTE-R) networks which use the same band.
More than 330 public safety organisations, including the police, fire brigade, ambulance crews and the military, will have access to the network, facilitating collaboration and interoperability between different agencies in an emergency.
“Samsung is proud to take part in building the world’s first nationwide PS-LTE network based on 3GPP standards in Korea, leveraging our end-to-end PS-LTE solutions,” said Seungil Kim, Vice President and Head of Korea Business, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics.
“A reliable network is critical for real-time communication among multiple institutions in case of emergencies. We will continue to offer advanced PS-LTE solutions to bolster Korea’s PS-LTE network, meeting the highest standards for reliability, performance and security.”
Samsung says the technology can be rolled out to other countries, including the UK.
“Samsung continues to advance its MCPTT solutions, which can further enhance the mission-critical network capabilities in the UK to support stronger collaborative abilities across emergency response teams,” added Thomas Riedel, Head of Samsung Networks Europe.
The UK had hoped to launch the world’s first LTE-based nationwide public safety system back in 2017 but the project has been subject to huge delays and the old Airwave system won’t go live until at least 2024.
- Here are the best business mobile phone deals
