Due to their portability and the availability of mobile core solutions that provide communications capabilities when there is no access to traditional infrastructure, small cells are increasingly being seen as a key enabler for bringing LTE to military and public-safety verticals, says SNS Research. The company predicts these entities will spend $350 million by 2020 on LTE small cell infrastructure, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45 percent between 2014 and 2020. "LTE is now viewed as the de-facto standard for future military and public-safety networks" because it offers lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and the ability to support data intensive applications such as mobile video and situational awareness, SNS noted. In the United States, the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) is laying out the path for a nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) using LTE in the 700 MHz spectrum band. For more, see this SNS release.