• August 16, 2019

• News

•  Industry News

• Share

In early May, AT&T hosted more than 600,000 FirstNet connections that were used by 7,250 public safety agencies. The carrier stated their FirstNet dedicated public safety communications network has made an increase of roughly 150,000 over the last three months, which surpassed 750,000 connections. AT&T also mentioned on Monday how Band 14 spectrum had been deployed at around 650 markets, with almost 9,000 public safety agencies already subscribed to the nationwide first responder platform. The carrier reconfirmed their recent comment that the FirstNet buildout of Band 14 spectrum is 65% complete and is expected to reach 70% by the end of the year.

FirstNet hosts 75 deployable network assets with three flying cell-on-wheels (COWs), including 175 asset deployments set for emergency events this year. According to John Rockwell, Statewide 9-1-1 Coordinator, FirstNet SPOC, Acting SWIC, Department of Public Safety, Alaska State Troopers, “We helped organize deployment to fight a fire in northern Alaska last month, and we needed communications. A FirstNet SatCOLT was there in 5 hours. It was the furthest north we’ve ever had unified communications, making our ability to respond that much easier and more efficient.”

In addition, the FirstNet Authority hopes to release their first roadmap designed to outline the organizational priorities for investing what could be more than $15 billion into the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband system developed by AT&T by the end of the month. Jeremy Zollo, First Net Authority executive director for enterprise strategy, said on Sunday during an APCO 2019 conference session, “This is all going to come out all at the same time, no later than the end of this month – that’s our target.”

According to Zollo, FirstNet Authority officials have met regularly with public-safety representatives for the past several months to learn the best way to utilize the funding received from AT&T during the 25-year contract. He also stated that the FirstNet Authority intends to update the roadmap accordingly, indicating how prioritized areas for investment could change in the future as the FirstNet system evolves.

Meetings with first-responder representatives had established priorities for improvement, leading to a targeted effort for macro cell sites, small cells, use of deployables, relays, range-extension techniques and device-to device communications needing enhanced FirstNet coverage and capacity. However, the FirstNet Authority indicated it will not prioritize funding in domains where solutions have yet to be identified – even if those domains remain an important factor within their own ecosystem. For example, Brian Hobson, director at the First Authority’s enterprise strategy office, cited LTE direct-mode communications were not as widely available and consequently are likely to face significant range challenges.

With 5G coming soon, consideration for the use of this budget stems around the dedicated FirstNet LTE core, along with deployable solutions, as potential candidates for the initial investment round. As a result, the FirstNet Authority could possibly approve the expenditure of as much as 78 million in September.

Due to the fund investment initiatives coming from AT&T, the agreement grants AT&T access to the 20 MHz of Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority, and has the potential to receive $6.5 billion by achieving all network-deployment milestones in a timely fashion. The agreement also requires AT&T to make payments to the FirstNet Authority that will total $18 billion over the 25-year contract period. This arrangement was designed to ensure the FirstNet Authority will remain financially sustainable throughout the life of the contract, which was awarded to AT&T in March 2017.

---

References:

Jackson, D. (2019, August 12). FirstNet Authority set to unveil investment roadmap within weeks, officials say. Retrieved from https://urgentcomm.com/2019/08/12/firstnet-authority-set-to-unveil-investment-roadmap-within-weeks-officials-say/
Fletcher, B. (2019, August 12). AT&T surpasses 750K FirstNet connections, developing HPUE with Assured Wireless. Retrieved from fiercewireless.com/operators/at-t-surpasses-750k-firstnet-connections-developing-hpue-assured-wireless