Personally, I see cellphones with superior data service as the technology that will give Land Mobile Radios (LMR) a run for their money in many situations, especially in the future. LMR will always exist, but in many, many situations we are already seeing cellphones dominating much of the first responder communications.
Check out this
Disaster Zone podcast: “New Cellular Service Opportunities for First Responders.”Here’s the description of the podcast:
“T-Mobile is now the second largest wireless carrier in the United States. Their recent merger with Sprint has given them some significant advantages in coverage and emergency and disaster capabilities. This interview is with Craig Martinez, a public safety advisor to T-Mobile with a long background in law enforcement. In the interview we discuss the many strong attributes that T-Mobile now has to support first responder agencies, police and fire—including being able to provide free cellular service in some instances, based on the wireless plan selected.”
Eric Holdeman is a nationally known emergency manager. He has worked in emergency management at the federal, state and local government levels. Today he serves as the Director, Center for Regional Disaster Resilience (CRDR), which is part of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER). The focus for his work there is engaging the public and private sectors to work collaboratively on issues of common interest, regionally and cross jurisdictionally.
