DALLAS, June 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- First
responders championed the creation of FirstNet. And now that it's
here, they continue to show their support. More than 1,000 public
safety agencies across 52 states and territories have joined
FirstNet, nearly doubling the network's adoption since April.
FirstNet is the nationwide public safety communications platform
dedicated to America's first responders. Being built with
AT&T*, in public-private partnership with the First Responder
Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), FirstNet is bringing public
safety a much-needed technology upgrade to help them connect to the
critical information they need. Every day. And in every
emergency.
FirstNet is designed to support the entire public safety
community. Current users include:
- 11 state patrol agencies
- Tribal public safety agencies
- Volunteer firefighters and responders
- Federal agencies
- School districts. They can use the service to communicate and
coordinate with public safety during times of crisis.
"First responders across the country are saying 'yes' to
THEIR network," said Chris Sambar, senior vice president,
AT&T-FirstNet. "We believe FirstNet is a nationwide asset to
public safety – one that is helping first responders more easily,
safely and effectively carry out their lifesaving mission. And we
couldn't be more honored to be charged with delivering it."
The nearly 100,000 FirstNet connections are helping transform
emergency communications. Since May, first responders have used
FirstNet to respond to:
- Active shooter situations
- Flooding events
- Large events like the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race
- Search and recovery missions in remote locations
- Tornadoes
- Wildfires
While each situation presents a unique set of circumstances, the
public safety mission remains the same. And FirstNet has been there
to reliably support first responders' resolution of each.
"We recently experienced significant flooding. Water rescues,
road closures and more needed to be quickly coordinated to keep our
responders and our residents safe," said Washington County (MD) Sheriff Doug Mullendore, whose agency was one of the
first in the nation to join FirstNet. "When disaster hit, we relied
on FirstNet to keep us connected. We even called in a Satellite
Cell on Light Truck (SatCOLT), boosting our ability to communicate
and coordinate our emergency response beyond the low bandwidth
Wi-Fi some of our personnel were using."
First responders on FirstNet also get access to key capabilities
like:
- Improved location services that allow incident commanders to
track, in near real time, the location of police, fire and EMS
personnel on the ground at large events.
- Data sharing to enhance public safety's situational awareness.
Used at large events, it's sped up first responders' ability to
reunite lost children with their families.
- Always-on priority and preemption across voice and data to stay
connected despite network congestion.
- Access to near real-time information to help emergency managers
and first responders coordinate their action plans and make
critical decisions.
- Increased security through FirstNet's physically separate,
dedicated core. Built to public safety's objectives and standards,
FirstNet isn't a virtual core.
"We are pleased to see first responders taking advantage of the
early benefits of their network," said FirstNet Authority CEO
Mike Poth. "Public safety's input is
essential to ensuring the deployment and future evolution of
FirstNet meets their rigorous demands. Our team looks forward to
continuing to work closely with public safety, advocating for their
innovation needs now and in the future."
Go to att.com/FirstResponderNews for more information. For more
about the value FirstNet is bringing to public safety, check out
FirstNet.com.
*About AT&T Communications
We help family, friends
and neighbors connect in meaningful ways every day. From the first
phone call 140+ years ago to mobile video streaming, we innovate to
improve lives. We have the nation's largest and most reliable
network and the nation's best network for video streaming.** We're
building FirstNet just for first responders and creating
next-generation mobile 5G. With DIRECTV and DIRECTV NOW, we deliver
entertainment people love to talk about. Our smart, highly secure
solutions serve over 3 million global businesses – nearly all of
the Fortune 1000. And worldwide, our spirit of service drives
employees to give back to their communities.
AT&T Communications is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T). Learn
more at att.com/CommunicationsNews.
AT&T products and services are provided or offered by
subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T
brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information about
AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com.
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**Coverage not available everywhere. Based on overall coverage
in U.S. licensed/roaming areas. Reliability based on voice and data
performance from independent 3rd party data.
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SOURCE AT&T Inc.