Rivada Networks Addresses Congressional Hearing on Public Safety Communications

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Public Safety requires control of its own communications network, built to the highest standards, and capable of providing crucial funding to aid the national FirstNet effort, Rivada Networks CEO Declan J. Ganley told the House Subcommittee on Energy and Communications.  

The committee was hearing expert testimony on the challenges faced by FirstNet in constructing a national public safety communications network that allows prioritized access for emergency services and first responders during an emergency. Mr. Ganley told the committee that new technologies developed by Rivada Networks would allow public safety to partner with private enterprise to construct a dedicated network that could simultaneously deliver the highest quality infrastructure, guaranteed access for first responders, and a funding stream that can support the maintenance and expansion of the public safety network:

"In times of emergency, our first responders need absolute priority access to the highest quality, secure, reliable and disaster-proof communications infrastructure. Rivada's experience in providing assistance during disasters like Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, and most recently Hurricane Sandy, have shown that this has not always been the case" Mr. Ganley said.

"In Hurricane Sandy, up to 25% of the entire commercial network was unavailable across 10 affected states for weeks. This shows that over-reliance on commercial providers is at best a sub-optimal solution to the challenges FirstNet is seeking to address".

"As a result of these experiences, Rivada has developed Dynamic Spectrum Arbitrage Tiered-Priority-Access (DSATPA). This technology allows public safety control over its own dedicated Network, with the full 20MHz of bandwidth that public safety will require in times of a devastating national emergency. However, since such emergencies are thankfully infrequent, DSATPA allows public safety to lease unused bandwidth to commercial operators on a dynamic basis, allowing the commercial carriers access to the highest-quality bandwidth while providing a reliable revenue stream to public safety".

"It is widely recognized that the FirstNet budget, which is a mere 1% of the cumulative US wireless network investments to date, will not be sufficient to upgrade the vast network of existing commercial sites that would be required to construct the national network if that is the alternative to the Rivada proposal. Clearly, the opportunity to add to this funding, and thus significantly reduce the burden on the American taxpayer, while putting in place a dedicated network that gives public safety the absolute prioritization it requires, is very compelling."

Speaking after the hearing, Mr. Ganley said that Rivada would continue to offer solutions to the challenge of creating a fully interoperable nationwide public safety network:

"Rivada will continue to work with states and cities to offer them innovative solutions to their public safety communications challenges, and with FirstNet to help it complete its critical national mission. This crucial process has the potential to save countless lives by placing in the hands of our first responders the key tools they require at the time they most require them, and it is imperative that the right decisions be taken to allow that challenge to be met."

Media Contact: Francis O'Flaherty Rivada Networks, +1 202 425 6674, [email protected]

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SOURCE Rivada Networks