Public safety agencies are potentially endangering their public by using public cellular networks for mobile data communications, warns the market research company IMS Research. In a new report on ‘mission-critical’ mobile data use, IMS points out that the private mobile radio networks of US and European agencies cannot yet deliver the data performance they require.

Questioning 260 agencies in Europe and the US, IMS found that 69 per cent of those with private mobile radio for voice were also using cellular networks to address certain of their mobile data requirements.

“Although, in most cases, the agencies were not using cellular for mission-critical data exchange, it’s clear that there is a huge pent-up demand for private networks that offer high-speed mobile data”, commented Alex Green, senior research director.

“The industry, as a whole, seems set on using a private version of the 4G cellular technology, LTE, to address this issue, and 51 per cent of respondents agree that LTE is the best solution. However, we still forecast it to be many years before use of such solutions becomes commonplace.”

While there does now appear to be a political will to find spectrum for LTE, in Europe spectrum and budgret issues remain “dire”, Green adds. “The creation of a Europe-wide harmonized frequency for private LTE is many years away and most agencies will continue to use public cellular networks for at least the next decade.

“Harmonized frequency across Europe underpinned the success of other mobile technologies, such as GSM, TETRA and W-CDMA, so it is crucial that regulators across Europe work together to achieve this, and quickly.”