2027 Agenda

For two decades, in-building public safety coverage has rested on two assumptions: that responders talk on narrowband LMR, and that the way to get that signal inside a building is an amplifier. Both assumptions are under pressure. FirstNet and 5G are putting broadband in responders' hands. Mission-critical push-to-talk is moving primary voice onto LTE. Satellite networks are reaching devices directly. Multi-technology handsets carry LMR, LTE, and Wi-Fi in a single radio.

Jurisdictions are already responding. Collier County, Florida now measures LTE from all three carriers during initial coverage testing and allows the jurisdiction to accept LTE-based solutions in lieu of a traditional ERCES. If LTE coverage can satisfy a requirement that an amplifier-based system used to satisfy, others will follow.

This panel asks what comes next. Panelists from the fire service, broadband, and the ERCES industry will examine what converged networks can and cannot do inside buildings today, where LMR and P25 remain essential, how the technical role of the signal booster changes as broadband becomes a primary path, and what that means for manufacturers, integrators, designers, and the responders who depend on them.