DALLAS, March 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The FirstNet
public-private partnership is about to turn 1. And we've been hard
at work delivering innovation for first responders. That's leading
to more competition for the public safety community. So far, more
than 350 agencies across more than 40 states and territories are
already taking advantage of FirstNet services.
FirstNet is the country's first and only nationwide public
safety communications platform dedicated to first responders. Built
with AT&T*, in public-private partnership with the First
Responder Network Authority, FirstNet is bringing public safety a
reliable and always-on way to connect to the tools they need to
help achieve their missions.
"We've been working hard to build something great for first
responders," said Chris Sambar, senior vice president,
AT&T-FirstNet. "While we have made strong progress, we still
have work to do to create the specialized experience that public
safety is looking for. To already see this kind of momentum from
the public safety community is encouraging, especially since first
responders in many states have only recently been able to sign up
for service. With FirstNet, first responders finally have a better
option than that offered by the incumbent or other commercial
providers."
Why first responders are signing up
The agencies using FirstNet make up nearly 30,000 connections on
the network. These connections range from smartphones to in-vehicle
modems and more.
Each connection helps first responders operate more efficiently
and effectively. From crisis situations like a standoff with an
armed suspect to supporting citizen safety during large events,
first responders see a difference with FirstNet.
We're just under a year into building out FirstNet, and the
platform is already giving first responders access to critical
capabilities they've long demanded. These include unthrottled
domestic data speeds as well as access to priority and preemption.
And these capabilities will be even better when we launch First
Priority™ later this month. Why does this matter?
Because we can't predict when or where emergencies are going to
happen. So we need to make sure our first responders have all the
tools possible to communicate when the community is most at risk.
These tools must be there when they are needed – for every FirstNet
subscriber.
"FirstNet is unprecedented. We're not aware of any other
wireless communications platform that has enabled priority and
preemption capabilities nationally to first responders without
downtime to turn them on," Sambar said. "When lives are on the
line, you don't have time to wait for access."
We will continue to enhance first responders' priority and
preemption services, giving them different levels of priority that
they can control in near real time to help them stay safe and save
lives.
Additional coverage first responders are getting
The First Responder Network Authority issued the official green
light via a task order to begin the Band 14 build.
Band 14 is nationwide, high-quality spectrum set aside by the
government specifically for FirstNet. Only FirstNet subscribers get
dedicated priority access to and preemption on Band 14 – no other
wireless provider can do this.
We'll cover 95% or more of the U.S. population with Band 14.
This will bring first responders access to even more coverage and
capacity to help them support emergencies and day-to-day operations
across the country – in rural and urban areas. This is important as
FirstNet will help to address rural coverage gaps, giving first
responders greater access to the connectivity they need.
Over the next 5 years, we'll be putting Band 14 on tens of
thousands of new and existing sites nationwide. We haven't wasted
any time in getting started. We plan to touch about a third of our
cell sites this year alone.
And we've been working with the device community to ensure this
important band is included in new offerings, from popular mobile
devices like the Samsung Galaxy S9/S9+ to specialty devices like
the Sonim XP8 and XP5s.
Innovation first responders can expect next
We're on schedule and only weeks away from launching the
nationwide, dedicated evolved packet network core specifically for
FirstNet. This is another breakthrough for first responders.
Bringing the core to life has been a priority since March 2017. And we've put hundreds of millions of
dollars behind its build. Creating a separate network core for
first responders isn't quick, easy or cheap. But it's
necessary.
FirstNet's dedicated core will give first responders the highly
secure environment they require. And it will be the foundation for
greater innovation and more advanced functionality. Here's a deeper
look.
- Designed to public safety specifications. The FirstNet
core is being built to the objectives and standards provided by the
First Responder Network Authority, which were developed through
years of consultation with public safety.
- Built on physically separate hardware. The FirstNet core
completely separates public safety's traffic from all commercial
traffic.
- Encrypted from end-to-end. The FirstNet core comes with
FIPS 140-2 compliant VPN solutions, radio, transport and network
core encryption, and advanced physical and logical security
protocols to keep all traffic on the network protected.
- Monitored 24/7/365. The FirstNet core will be monitored
at all times by a dedicated Security Operations Center with a
dedicated team. Their sole focus will be to watch over the security
of the network.
- Architected for superior reliability and availability.
The FirstNet core will help enable the 99.99% end-to-end service
availability objective. There will be multiple geographically
distributed core sites nationwide for redundancy and
performance.
- Heightened capabilities. The FirstNet core will unlock
different levels of priority paired with a local control interface.
This means eligible first responders can boost priority levels to
best support specific situational responses.
- Committed to sustained innovation. The FirstNet core
will deliver a range of next-generation public safety capabilities.
This includes mission-critical Push-to-Talk, z-Axis location-based
services and more.
The FirstNet core will connect into the state radio access
networks we are building. This will create seamless
interoperability from state to state. And it will give all FirstNet
subscribers the same access to FirstNet's capabilities as they are
deployed.
When you're dealing with public safety's sensitive, vital
information, you need a core that can stand up to rigorous
technical and public safety oversight. Once completed, the FirstNet
core will undergo extensive, exhaustive testing with the First
Responder Network Authority.
This testing will ensure the core's security and performance
meet the high standards needed to serve public safety. Otherwise,
how can you be sure that it'll be tough enough to deliver when
public safety needs it most?
Go to att.com/FirstResponderNews for more information. For more
about the value FirstNet is bringing to public safety, check out
FirstNet.com.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
Information set forth in this news release contains financial
estimates and other forward-looking statements that are subject to
risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ
materially. A discussion of factors that may affect future results
is contained in AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. AT&T disclaims any obligation to update and revise
statements contained in this news release based on new information
or otherwise.
*About AT&T
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turn to AT&T for our highly secure smart solutions.
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SOURCE AT&T Inc.