Project 25 has over 3000 systems on the air today offering Public Safety Grade PTT communications to government agencies nationwide. As the new First-Net Broadband data system continues to roll out; many question what type of Mission Critical PTT interoperability and sharing will be available between the two systems.

The session begins with a Whitepaper by SAFECOM/NCSWIC that details LMR LTE Interworking on the air today in multiple P25 Systems. Many agencies have experimented with different ways to utilize LMR/LTE. See examples from interviews with practitioners across the country.

Then the latest 2023 update for LMR LTE Interworking Standards from the TIA TR-8.8 subcommittee (responsible for P25 Standards) and The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) will be presented. This Working Group is developing guidelines for MCPTT inter-working between P25 LMR and LTE systems. A study document includes scenarios and considerations for the use of a 3GPP Interworking Function (IWF) to enable interoperability of common standard services between a 3GPP MC system and a TIA-based LMR system (P25). Multiple LMR systems are examined: P25 Trunking, P25 Conventional, and TIA-603 analog Conventional FM. The P25 Inter Sub System Interface (ISSI/CSSI) is the TIA recommended interface for P25 LMR. See the P25 Standards documents updates that facilitate interworking with the IWF.

Learn about User considerations for extending existing P25 systems with LMR/LTE Interworking. This will include: Supported feature-sets from P25 (ISSI/CSSI/etc), as well as Encryption, User device, & Cybersecurity considerations. An Q&A period will follow.