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About The Roadmap

The FirstNet Authority Roadmap is designed to guide the growth, evolution, and advancement of FirstNet. Developed with input from public safety, industry, government, and our network contractor, AT&T, the Roadmap provides a view of public safety’s operational needs and technology trends for mobile broadband communications over the next five years.

Download the Roadmap

The future of the network, driven by public safety’s priorities and tech trends

The Roadmap was developed in coordination with public safety through a nationwide engagement effort. The FirstNet Authority held more than 600 engagements in the first half of 2019 to collect feedback from the broader public safety community about first responders’ operational needs. To ensure the network evolves with new technologies, the FirstNet Authority also conducted targeted industry engagements and market research to capture industry trends, drivers, and advancements. In 2020, with an additional 1,000 public safety engagements, the FirstNet Authority released an update to the Roadmap. From our engagement and analysis efforts, we concluded that the Roadmap’s foundation—the six technology domains—should remain the same in this update. Public safety reaffirmed the six domains are critical to the network’s success, and we believe that the FirstNet Authority can make the most impact on public safety communications by focusing our programs, activities, and investment dollars around them.


The Roadmap’s six domains

The Roadmap is structured around six domains, representing network capabilities that are vital to public safety operations. These domains will help the FirstNet Authority prioritize its programs, resources, investments, and partnership activities.

The Core

Central switching and connectivity system that enables 4G, 5G, etc. Latest news: Core

Coverage

Radio frequency signal transmission to devices via towers, deployables, in-building systems, etc. Latest news: Coverage 

Situational Awareness

Tools and capabilities that provide public safety with real-time information to support operations. Latest news: Situational Awareness

Voice Communications

All aspects of NPSBN-based voice and mission critical communications, including mission critical voice, data, and video. Latest news: Voice Communications

Secure Information Exchange

Addresses the management, access, analysis, and security of public safety data. Latest news: Secure Information Exchange

User Experience

How first responders touch and interact with the FirstNet network. Latest news: User Experience

 


Roadmap Resources


  • Cover of Roadmap 2020
    FirstNet Authority Roadmap 2020

    Read the updated version of the full Roadmap, the FirstNet Authority’s guide to public safety’s priorities for mobile broadband communications.

  • First page of the FAQs about the Roadmap
    Roadmap Frequently Asked Questions

    Get answers to the top ten questions asked about the FirstNet Authority Roadmap, including how it was developed, how it will be used, and how it relates to network funding.

  • First page of the Roadmap Factsheet
    Roadmap Factsheet

    Download a quick summary of the FirstNet Authority Roadmap.