Introduction

Communication during times of disaster/crisis is critical to ensure that needed resources are deployed to mitigate the effects of a disaster. Unfortunately, times of disaster are when network resources are strained and it becomes difficult to access the public network. During times such as this, it is important to provide capabilities in the network to allow a certain class of subscribers access to the scarce network resources. This would enable the public emergency and safety agencies to appropriately respond to situation at hand. Wireless Priority Service for CDMA-based networks has already been defined by TIA [1]. It is important to ensure that priority service continue to be offered as networks evolve. Authorized users that respond to disaster or crisis situations should have priority access to network communication resources in MMD based Networks. Multimedia Priority Service (MMPS) will provide the needed priority capabilities for voice, data, video, messaging and multimedia services to these authorized users. MMPS allows qualified and authorized users to obtain access to resources on a priority basis before all other PLMN users, subject to national/regional regulations. This document defines the requirements to enable MMPS in MMD-based Networks.