Rise in Demand for Emergency Communication Solutions to Emerge as a Key Driver for the Global Public Safety LTE Devices

The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global public safety LTE devices market for 2016-2020. The report also provides an overview of LTE technology and its ecosystem in the public safety domain based on the following:

• Technology
• Incumbent PMR solutions
• Interoperability
• Spectrum allocation
• Alliances
• Market segmentation

Technavio ICT analysts highlight the following four factors that are contributing to the growth of the global public safety LTE devices market:

• Increased need for efficient public safety operations
• Rise in demand for emergency communication solutions
• Advances in LTE technology
• Growing public communication network operators and telecom vendors
• Increased need for efficient public safety operations

Traditional networks cannot transmit complex data that is required to manage critical public safety operations. The ability to combine high-speed data, voice, and video on a network has made LTE the most reliable medium for seamless communication in public safety operations. LTE also reduces latency, and makes transmissions more efficient and dependable. All these features make LTE the best option for critical data transmission during an emergency.

“To improve emergency management systems, first responders need to have all possible information at their disposal. Public safety processes involving the use of LTE devices are more efficient than other technologies such as land mobile radio,” says Rakesh Kumar Panda, a lead analyst at Technavio for research on M2M and connected devices.

Rise in demand for emergency communication solutions

In the recent past, there has been a significant increase in natural calamities and terrorism. Therefore, it has become imperative for countries worldwide to come up with effective countermeasures to handle such situations. During such scenarios, it is essential to communicate the right information to the right individual at the right time for safety and security reasons.

“LTE devices enable fire personnel to access real-time information about the environment they are securing. In addition, police officers responding to an incident can access data and prepare themselves according to the situation. The provision of real-time information is critical during times of crisis, especially during terror attacks,” says Rakesh.

Advances in LTE technology

LTE technology, which transmits high-speed data, video, and voice, has become the mainstream standard for mobile communication. Moreover, advances in existing technologies such as LMR systems have increased the demand for such services to ensure public safety.

LMR device vendors are focusing on making their patented solutions easily adaptable in an open standards environment. This allows end-users to be less dependent on an infrastructure vendor. Numerous public safety agencies are focusing on improving the security of their systems and further boosting the demand for advanced technologies such as LTE and VoLTE. Major service providers worldwide are also adopting LTE.

For instance, Alcatel-Lucent uses robust wireless technology that delivers visual information quickly. The application can quickly provide a digital photo or a short video clip instead of returning a text reply to a database query. With this real-time information, the firefighters can access the maps that they need to navigate to the exact scene of fire.

Growing public communication network operators and telecom vendors

4G LTE is the next generation of wireless technology, which enables mobile broadband services. It includes elements that are not present in 2G and 3G infrastructure, such as the mobility management entity, a serving gateway, and a packet data network gateway. Many leading public communication network operators and telecom vendors are collaborating to capitalize on next-generation mobile broadband networks that are based on 3GPP LTE/SAE standards.

A group of telecom technology manufacturers and network operators, including T-Mobile, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, France Telecom/Orange, Nortel, and Vodafone, jointly took an initiative to drive the next generation of high-performance mobile broadband networks based on 3GPP Release 8 LTE/SAE specifications. Public safety users are the primary contributors, both socially and economically, but the market for systems based on public safety standards is smaller than the commercial cellular market.