State of Tennessee Increases 9-1-1 Resiliency with FirstNet
as Wireless Backup for AT&T ESInet™
DALLAS, Aug. 31,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- What's the
news? FirstNet®, Built with AT&T covers more
first responders than any network in the country. And as America's
public safety wireless communications provider, AT&T* is
furthering their critical communications by expanding 5G on
FirstNet, boosting dedicated in-building connectivity and enhancing
9-1-1 resiliency across Tennessee
with FirstNet as a wireless backup.
Expanding 5G on FirstNet, the only network built with and
for the nation's first responders: Now, public safety in more
than 40 cities – including Boston,
Charlotte, Chicago, Minneapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, Seattle and St.
Louis – can access AT&T mid-band 5G+ spectrum to get the
early benefits of its ultra-fast connectivity in a way that meets
their unique mission needs. That means first responders in about
100 markets across the country have access to at least 1 of the 3
flavors of 5G (using low-, mid- and high-band spectrum) we're
delivering on FirstNet. Learn more about 5G on FirstNet here.
Boosting dedicated in-building connectivity where public safety
needs it most: Following the network investment from the
First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), qualified
first responder agencies on FirstNet can now get Cell Booster Pros
for use in areas where they've previously experienced connectivity
challenges – all at no cost to them. It's just one more way
our unprecedented public-private partnership is strengthening
public safety's command and control of their network.
The Cell Booster Pro is an enterprise-grade mini cell site
that provides reliable connectivity for public safety on FirstNet,
as well as employees and visitors on the AT&T commercial
network. The Cell Booster Pro transmits public safety's
high-quality Band 14 spectrum as well as AT&T commercial LTE.
With the ability to mesh 3 of these mini cell sites within a
building, agencies can increase coverage by up to 45,000 square
feet, supporting nearly 200 users. Thousands of devices are
available to first responder agencies across the country – all at
no additional cost to them.
Enhancing 9-1-1 resiliency across Tennessee: We are also uniquely positioned to
equip 9-1-1 call centers, or public safety answering points
(PSAPs), and first responders with an integrated infrastructure
that allows them to be more flexible, resilient and agile. That's
why we integrated AT&T ESInet with the FirstNet network to
extend network connectivity to remote PSAPs that are either hard to
reach or experiencing an outage. And the State of Tennessee is leading the country in
deploying this innovative solution at every PSAP across the state.
This further protects the nearly 7 million people who call the
Volunteer State home.
Interoperability with FirstNet enables redundancy, resiliency
and agility with AT&T ESInet so that PSAPs can focus on keeping
their communities safe. If AT&T ESInet detects a disruption to
the primary connection of a 9-1-1 call center, it will
automatically route 9-1-1 calls over the FirstNet network to a
remote PSAP. This integration strengthens PSAPs to maintain
operations and creates a path for future Next Generation 9-1-1
technologies, including videos and images. These technologies allow
PSAPs to coordinate with first responders more efficiently, improve
situational awareness and reduce response times.
Why is this important? AT&T is the only carrier
that can provide end-to-end emergency communication solutions, from
9-1-1 to dispatch to response. And as public safety's partner, it's
about where first responders need connectivity. Emergencies are
unpredictable and during these critical moments, the public safety
community needs reliable, interoperable communications. Today,
more than 21,800 agencies and organizations – accounting for 3.7
million connections1 – use FirstNet to stay
mission-ready. We've seen significant growth in FirstNet because
the public safety community recognizes commercial networks aren't
designed to properly handle the specific and niche demands of first
responders. And commercial networks are not subject to the rigorous
level of oversight and accountability by the federal government.
That's why public safety has FirstNet.
Where can I find more information? To learn more
about America's public safety network, check out FirstNet.com. And
click here for more FirstNet news.
What people are saying:
Jason Porter
President, Public Sector
and FirstNet, AT&T
"Our commitment to first responders
is unparalleled. By delivering 5G on FirstNet in this unique way,
public safety is getting a head start on the future of
connectivity, without compromising on the reliability they require
for their critical communications. And with first responder
agencies now able to put their network in buildings where
they need it most, we're equipping first responders with a network
that's second-to-none today and for decades to come."
Lisa Casias
Acting
CEO, First Responder Network Authority
"The FirstNet
Authority's investments in the network are guided by the needs of
public safety. This unique process is a testament to FirstNet truly
being built for and by public safety. We are pleased to work
alongside public safety to bring them the tools needed to keep our
communities safe."
Curtis
Sutton
Executive Director, Tennessee Emergency Communications
Board
"We understand that we play a vital role in providing
a link to members of our community and first responders. We took
key lessons learned following the emergency events in December 2020 and worked with AT&T and other
agencies to design a solution to increase our reliability and
resiliency. In addition to creating redundancies through
traditional connections with AT&T ESInet, we are implementing a
wireless connection with FirstNet, which gives us an even more
robust dependability than we could have imagined."
1 As of Q2 2022
*About AT&T
We help more than 100 million U.S. families, friends and
neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first
phone call 140+ years ago to our 5G wireless and multi-gig internet
offerings today, we @ATT innovate to improve lives. For more
information about AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), please visit us
at about.att.com. Investors can learn more
at investors.att.com.
©2022 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.
FirstNet and the FirstNet logo are registered trademarks and
service marks of the First Responder Network Authority. All other
marks are the property of their respective owners.
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SOURCE FirstNet