Standards

In June 2025, the FirstNet Authority participated in the quarterly 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) plenary meetings. The FirstNet Authority represents public safety’s needs and advocates for continued American leadership for public safety communications.

Public Affairs Specialist Molly Hahn sits down with Acting Director of Ecosystems and Standards Engagement Division Mark Lipford to discuss standards and the FirstNet Authority’s role in standards work worldwide. Learn about how standards are developed and how they impact public safety’s use of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network. 

In March 2025, the FirstNet Authority participated in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 6G workshop, followed by the quarterly 3GPP plenary meetings. The workshop and meetings focused on progressing features important to public safety. The FirstNet Authority continued to represent public safety interests.

The Third Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP, held Plenary meetings in September 2024. The meetings highlighted progress reported in the 3GPP Radio Access Network, Service and System Aspects, and Core Terminal groups focusing on the Release 19 work. The group also officially approved a study on 6G.

The Third Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP, held Plenary meetings in March 2024. The meetings highlighted progress reported in the 3GPP Radio Access Network and Core Terminal groups related to completing work in Release 18. Additionally, the Service and System Aspects group activities continued to focus on Release 19 as well as planning a 6G workshop in 2025.

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) held Plenary meetings in December 2023 focused on the feature progress for Release 18, planning for Release 19, and preliminary discussions for Release 20. During these meetings, the FirstNet Authority served as an active participant working to develop standards for mission critical services.

During the 3rd Generation Partnership Project Plenary’s September 2023 meetings, there was continued progress on Release 18, including features of interest for public safety and the development on the stage 3 protocol work. Additionally, the meetings included planning on Release 19 features and the start of preliminary discussions for Release 20.

Ambulance runs can go to the most remote of places—in both rural and urban environments. A useful piece of technology for EMS is FirstNet’s high-power user equipment, or HPUE. HPUE boosts signal power up to six times the normal strength at the edges of the network. Lieutenant Humza Shamsuddin, Technology Director for the Bristol Kendall Fire Protection District in Illinois, explains how his agency uses HPUE for EMS.

3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary meetings held in June 2023 focused on the feature progress for Release 18, including the completion of the architecture (stage 2) and the development of protocol work (stage 3). The meetings also included two workshops on Release 19 feature planning. This session marked the 100th set of 3GPP Plenary meetings.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings concluded in March 2023. The meetings focused on the feature progress and schedule for Release 18 (R18) and included the initial discussions of Release 19 planning. The remaining stage 2 architectural work in R18 is advancing well and is expected to complete in June 2023, as scheduled, allowing the R18 stage 3 protocol work to proceed.

The fourth-quarterly 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings of 2022 concluded in December. Participants focused work on 3GPP Release 18’s (R18) feature progress and schedule. During the meetings, the group decided to extend the R18 freeze date by three months to March 2024 to ensure the quality of the R18 3GPP specifications.

The third-quarterly Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings of 2022 concluded in September. Participants focused on 3GPP Release 18, which will become the inaugural release for 5G Advanced that includes new innovations toward the 5G vision. The plenary meetings made solid progress on the study items and work items that form the basis to advance Release 18 features.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) frequently collaborates with the First Responder Network Authority to advance public safety communications. Whether partnering on prize challenges, standards development, R&D testing, or the Public Safety Immersive Test Center, the two organizations are working together to spur technology development for first responders.

The first-quarterly Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings of 2022 concluded in March. Participants completed work on 3GPP Release 17 that enhances aspects of the 5G system and marks the conclusion of the first phase of the 5G technology evolution. Delegates also made significant progress on Release 18 that will include new innovations delivering the 5G vision.

The fourth quarterly Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings of 2021 concluded in December 2021. Participants spent time discussing the preliminary scoping of the Release 18 feature list, schedule, and completion dates, as well as issues related to 5G, interoperability, and standards initiatives.

The third quarterly Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings of 2021 concluded in September. Participants spent considerable time on preliminary scoping of the Release 18 (R18) feature content and schedule. Delegates also made good progress on the stage 3 (protocol) work for Release 17. The R18 schedule discussion ended with an initial agreement on an 18 month timeline that will result in a December 2023 completion target date. 

The second quarterly Third Generational Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings of 2021 focused on the completion of Release 17 (R17) stage 2 (architecture) work and preparation for prioritization of features for R18. The group declared the stage 2 work frozen, while allowing some work items to continue into the third quarter of 2021. At this time, the R17 stage 3 (protocol) freeze date remains on schedule for March 2022.

Last year, firefighters on the west coast battled a relentless string of fires prompting mass evacuations, destroying thousands of homes and threatening dozens of communities. As the fires and the pandemic continue to pose a double threat, FirstNet worked as it was intended by giving first responders prioritized and preemptive service to make sure that emergency communications always comes first. FirstNet prioritizes first responder communication ahead of non-emergency communications – and that has made all the difference in keeping firefighters safe as they protect communities and save lives.

The FirstNet Authority is joining PSCR 2021, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division’s virtual annual Stakeholder Meeting. Through plenaries, on-demand sessions, and live question and answer sessions, the FirstNet Authority team will discuss standards work, innovation in public safety communications technology, and how the pandemic changed operations for first responders.

The first quarterly Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Plenary e-meetings of 2021 recently concluded. At the March meetings, the 3GPP momentum continued with more Release 17 progress and a focus on the upcoming June deadline for stage 2 (architecture) work. There were major discussions on the use of the 5G New Radio (NR) sidelink interface to support both user equipment (UE) to network (U2N) relay and UE to UE (U2U) relay.