Motorola will be using the 700 MHz spectrum to bring a 4G network based on Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology to San Francisco. The city of SF has tapped the wireless infrastructure arm of Motorola to build out the nation’s first LTE mobile broadband data network for use in public safety services.
Before you San Franciscans start buying equipment to take advantage of these faster mobile data speeds, you should know that the 700 MHz LTE network will only be for public safety organizations. In fact, it will be the first LTE public safety network in the country and it will serve multiple agencies across the greater bay area, including San Francisco, Alameda County/Oakland, Contra Costa County, as well as the cities of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale.
“Historically, this is a very significant technology deployment that will have a huge impact on the public safety mission in the Bay Area,” said Sheriff Gregory Ahem, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, in a prepared statement. “This is one of the most, if not the greatest, technological advancements in my thirty year law enforcement career, and it will have a huge impact on our abilities to provide improved services to our communities.”
This 700 MHz LTE network could help public safety departments communicate and collaborate better. For example, the computer in a police officer’s car will soon be able to get information at a faster rate and the more information these law enforcement have the better they can respond to situations. Or, so goes the theory. How beat cops will end up taking advantage of faster data speeds has yet to be determined.
For consumers, the Motorola’s 700 MHz LTE 4G network for public safety could be an indicator of how other next-generation networks will run in the area. Verizon is on track to deploy an LTE 4G network across the country in the same 700Mhz spectrum band that the carrier ended up winning in the 700Mhz FCC spectrum auction a few years ago.
Verizon’s 4G LTE network will be the evolution of its current mobile data network and early tests indicate real-life speeds should be between 5 to 12 Mbps. The max download speed is theoretically 50 Mbps with Verizon’s current infrastructure tech, but I don’t think we’ll see those speeds from Verizon’s LTE 4G network for a long, long time.
For now, SF will continue to be one of the more progressive city’s in the US. We just hope public safety organizations will find good use for the dedicated high-speed mobile broadband network that the city is creating for them.
[Via Motorola]