Public Safety Broadband

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Public Safety Communications Research Division (PSCR) frequently collaborates with the First Responder Network Authority to advance public safety communications. Whether partnering on prize challenges, standards development, R&D testing, or the Public Safety Immersive Test Center, the two organizations are working together to spur technology development for first responders.

One thing the 9-1-1 community learned from the pandemic was the need to plan for alternate ways to work. Rather than be tied to workstations at fixed locations, 9-1-1 telecommunicators need flexibility to remotely take, dispatch, and supervise calls. In December 2021, Maryland telecommunicators put FirstNet to the test, demonstrating the network’s connectivity and reliability during remote operations.

The mitigation phase of emergency management includes all the steps taken to minimize the impact of disasters. FirstNet can play an important role in mitigation. Smart cities and remote sensors are two ways that technology is advancing mitigation efforts and disaster management, and FirstNet provides the prioritized and secure connectivity that public safety needs for these technologies.

Coverage is king for public safety communications. Since its creation, the FirstNet Authority has focused on ensuring first responders have coverage and connectivity whenever and wherever they need it. Deployables, high power user equipment, and a focus on 5G are some of the new ways FirstNet subscribers can get coverage in hard-to-reach areas.

 

During a joint training exercise and demonstration at Military Ocean terminal Sunny Point in North Carolina, federal and local first responders from across the state experienced how FirstNet can connect agencies during emergencies and everyday operations.

 

After 30 years as a career and volunteer firefighter, Stephen Wantz understands the importance of clear communications. Now, as an elected official in Carroll County, Maryland, he uses his past experience to advocate for the tools and technology public safety needs to communicate.

In this year’s Annual Report to Congress, the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet Authority, celebrates its 10th anniversary.

With decades of experience in public safety and public service, Stephen Benjamin understands the importance of reliable communications for first responders. Ten years after the creation of the FirstNet Authority, he reflects on the impacts of FirstNet and shares his vision for the future of the network as Chair of the FirstNet Authority Board.

Broadband has become the lifeblood of our economy. It is also essential to our national security and public safety, a fact that first responders recognized many years ago.

Throughout the pandemic, FirstNet has been delivering our nation’s frontline public safety personnel a secure, dedicated wireless broadband service to keep mass vaccination centers connected and coordinated. When the New Hampshire’s Security and Emergency Management set up a mass vaccination clinic in Loudon last spring, the agency implemented FirstNet service for its communication needs. The FirstNet network was equally critical to healthcare providers and emergency managers setting up sites to administer COVID-19 testing and vaccinations in Michigan and Maryland.

First responders have worked tirelessly to keep our country safe, and even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. FirstNet offers reliable and adaptive mobile broadband solutions to first responders as they continue to be on the frontlines of COVID-19 response. With the pandemic bringing a new set of challenges to delivering public safety services, emergency managers across the country, are turning to FirstNet’s innovative solutions to support the continuity of operations.

North Carolina’s first responders face a variety of challenges with “communication deserts” throughout the state, especially in rural areas. With a new FirstNet cell tower in Wayne County, first responders will have the coverage they need for emergencies and daily activities.

FirstNet is revolutionizing the delivery of public safety services for all users. Learn how FirstNet is expanding broadband coverage into rural areas that have been traditionally underserved or unserved.

In 2021, the FirstNet Authority delivered its first investments in public safety’s network to help drive a differentiated, dedicated, and enduring network to support first responders. In 2022, the FirstNet Authority will continue to advance public safety communications through close engagement with first responders and expansions in 5G and mission-critical solutions.

Experts at the Boulder FirstNet Lab in Colorado test functions and features of FirstNet to ensure first responders experience the network as designed and expected. For example, using load test tools, researchers can emulate 6,000 devices and demonstrate how priority and preemption work for first responders.

First responders’ inability to communicate after the 9/11 attacks underscored significant public safety communication shortfalls nationwide – including on tribal lands. The FirstNet Authority is working to bring FirstNet’s unique capabilities to tribal communities that are historically prone to communication challenges.

More than 18,500 public safety agencies and organizations, accounting for more than 2.8 million connections nationwide, are on FirstNet. 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.

The FirstNet Authority’s Emergency Management Community of Practice has developed a resource guide for emergency managers. The guide includes an overview of features and functions that may be used in their daily and emergency response roles. Many of the topics covered in the guide are applicable for coordinating response in the field or when an Emergency Operations Center has been activated.

Sheriff Neil Miller of the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska began implementing mobile data more than 20 years ago, and he continues to bring advanced technologies to increase the efficiency of operations for deputies. With FirstNet being built out throughout the state of Nebraska, deputies and other first responders are able to spend more time in the communities they serve.

FirstNet Authority’s staff, board members, and Public Safety Advisory Committee members reflect on the events of September 11, 2001. At the FirstNet Authority, our story is indelibly linked to 9/11. Our mission is to oversee a communications network – FirstNet – that was created in light of the events of 9/11 to give American first responders a reliable nationwide broadband network. The lives lost and the lives forever changed on September 11, 2001 are our reasons why. We will never forget.