What's the news? A momentous 3rd quarter saw accelerated adoption from public safety. Now, more than 18,500 public safety agencies and organizations, accounting for more than 2.8 million connections1 nationwide, are on FirstNet®, Built with AT&T* – the only nationwide network built with and for America's first responders. This growth has helped us to establish our market leadership position within the law enforcement community, with the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, Brevard County Sheriff's Office, and Newark Police Department (New Jersey), as well as the Florida Division of Emergency Management among the latest agencies to sign on to public safety's network.
Public safety is utilizing FirstNet to manage daily operations, planned events, and emergency situations and disasters. From San Francisco's Fleet Week earlier this month to COVID-19 testing centers and wildfires in the West, FirstNet is keeping public safety connected unlike any other network. In fact, so far this year FirstNet has deployed more than 650 solutions – from dedicated FirstNet SatCOLTs to expediting network restoration efforts – to support public safety's emergency response.
We're also giving first responders truly dedicated coverage and capacity when they need it most. So far, we've surpassed 95% of our nationwide Band 14 coverage target with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), well ahead of schedule. And public safety's dedicated ecosystem is expanding to support the growing subscribers. There are now 315+ FirstNet Ready® devices and more than 180 apps in the FirstNet App Catalog, which includes a carefully curated category of safety and wellness apps to further support the mental and physical health of first responders. The FirstNet App Catalog is geared to first responders, featuring apps relevant to public safety's mission, and gives FirstNet subscribers a dedicated site to find meaningful new solutions that have been specifically reviewed for use with their network.
By listening to what public safety needs, we're introducing new mission-centric solutions including Locate Standard for FirstNet, a new dynamic mapping application that includes Z-Axis, and NumberSync for Samsung wearables.
Why is this important? FirstNet is public safety's network. While commercial wireless offerings are available to public safety, FirstNet continues to grow because it stands apart from those commercial offerings. Unlike commercial networks, FirstNet is built to public safety's strict specifications and requirements. It is providing first responders with truly dedicated coverage and capacity when they need it, unique benefits like always-on priority and preemption, and high-quality Band 14 spectrum. These advanced capabilities help emergency managers, fire, EMS and law enforcement save lives and protect their communities.
We continue to listen to public safety and focus on delivering the services they need, on their network. Nowhere else can public safety get its own nationwide, dedicated communications platform with the mission-ready and mission-critical standards-based solutions they need to protect themselves and our communities. And the public safety analyst community agrees. Frost & Sullivan has recognized AT&T with the 2021 North American Mobile Situational Awareness Customer Value Leadership Award for expertly leveraging 3 strengths to create push-to-talk (PTT)-based situational awareness solutions that offer clear value-add. Our leadership in the traditional PTT market, our deep understanding of evolving customer needs, and our unique role as builder and operator of FirstNet were specifically highlighted.
What are the new solutions? FirstNet is expanding public safety's network and rolling out mission-driven innovative solutions. These new solutions and offers will give public safety new capabilities:
- Locate Standard and Locate Pro Offer for FirstNet: As every public safety agency knows, coordinating first responders in the field during emergency situations can be challenging. Existing solutions that utilize radio to verbally communicate position and provide limited situational awareness, especially within multi-story structures. This limited location visibility can lead to delayed response times and error-prone operational decisions, ultimately, putting lives at risk. FirstNet understands these challenges and will soon provide first responders an exclusive solution to solve this problem – Locate Standard for FirstNet. This dynamic mapping application empowers public safety by providing near real-time responder locations on a detail-rich Google map, including Z-Axis (or vertical position) to identify a team member's location during critical times. Locate Standard provides greater efficiency to keep your teams safe, improved situational awareness and coordination and decreased response times. Agencies on FirstNet can sign-up for Locate Standard free for 1-year, along with Locate Pro – a premium mapping solution, and Activate – an emergency callout and team mobilization tool, free for the first 2 months of the offer.
- NumberSync for Samsung Wearables: NumberSync allows a user to "twin" a smartphone with a wearable, like a smartwatch, to make and receive calls and text messages, check email, monitor health status and more without the smartphone present. Coming soon, this functionality will be more widely available to public safety with the Samsung Galaxy Watch3, Watch4 and the Watch4 Classic wearables. This is just another technology advantage available to first responders.
Where can I find more information? For more about the value FirstNet is bringing to public safety, check out FirstNet.com. And go here for more FirstNet news.
What people are saying:
Jason Porter
President, Public Sector and FirstNet, AT&T
"In less than 5 years, we've built a network with and for America's first responders and have built an ecosystem with the communication tools and technologies they need every day, on every mission. As FirstNet's market leadership grows, we will continue to innovate new solutions and enhance existing ones, helping to ensure public safety has access to the information they need, when they need it."
Ed Parkinson
CEO of the FirstNet Authority
"From accelerating innovations in mapping technologies to simplifying access to devices, FirstNet continues to raise the bar for what it means to be a network built for and by public safety. Feedback from America's first responders is at the center of everything we do, and the FirstNet Authority will continue to work with public safety and AT&T to evolve and enhance the network based on their operational needs."
Sheriff Paul Miyamoto
San Francisco Sheriff's Office
"When an emergency strikes, reliable communication is vital for our department and the communities we serve. We are proud to partner with FirstNet, and confident that this technology will help our members make better decisions at incidents to help mitigate the loss of life and property. FirstNet also ensures streamlined communication between regional public safety agencies during mutual aid incidents."
Robert Little
Telecommunications Specialist, Florida Division of Emergency Management
"The entire Florida Division of Emergency Management is on FirstNet. My whole agency depends on reliable communication to help the counties. That's the most critical aspect of my job. We're here to support and coordinate what the counties need. If they can't reach me, I can't reach them, then everything breaks down. Reliable communications is imperative to the work we do."
Jeanine Sterling
Industry Director, Frost & Sullivan
"As a leader in mobile situational awareness offerings, AT&T has demonstrated vision and innovation in multiple ways. These include the carrier's role in building the national FirstNet public safety communications network, its ongoing creative enhancement of its PTT solutions, and its larger health and wellness effort to support a highly stressed first responder community. These and other actions lay the groundwork for further opportunities in the situational awareness industry."
1As of Q3 2021
