State
With a fleet of 76 deployable assets ranging from Satellite Cell on Light Trucks to the FirstNet One Aerostat, FirstNet is prepared for hurricane season. These assets are pre-staged and available to respond when disasters strike.
The Arlington Police Department in Texas is using FirstNet to support tools that help officers better serve their communities. FirstNet’s dedicated network gives Arlington Police confidence and reliability across the city to remain connected to the resources they need most.
In Walker County, Alabama, Sheriff Nick Smith said that digital radios running over FirstNet kept deputies connected to dispatch and an aviation unit that helped locate missing persons. Walker County deputies currently carry DuraForce Pro 2 smartphones by Kyocera which use FirstNet, a broadband network for first responders offered by AT&T.
During a missing person search last fall in a remote part of the western Black Hills in South Dakota, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office had no cell-phone service. Within hours of calling FirstNet, Captain Tony Harrison said that the AT&T-FirstNet team set up a mobile cell tower to allow deputies to communicate with dispatch and locate the missing person.
Florida’s first responders got a major boost in their wireless communications with the addition of new, purpose-built FirstNet cell sites and more than 2,000 other network enhancements. This new infrastructure is a part of the FirstNet network expansion taking place across the state, bringing increased coverage, capacity and capabilities for public safety.
First responders in Western Massachusetts got a major boost in their wireless communications with the addition of new, purpose-built cell sites. The sites – located in the communities of Worthington, Hardwick and Huntington – are part of the FirstNet network expansion taking place in Massachusetts, which is bringing increased coverage, capacity and capability to first responders across the state.
Alabama’s first responders got a major boost in their wireless communications with the addition of new, purpose-built FirstNet cell sites supporting 8 communities: Anniston, Banks, Berry, Clio, Orrville, Ranburne, Union Springs and Woodland. This new infrastructure is a part of the FirstNet network expansion taking place across the state, bringing increased coverage, capacity and capabilities for public safety.
New cell sites in the state of South Carolina will bring improved coverage to first responders. The new sites are part of the FirstNet network’s expanding infrastructure for the state.
New cell sites in the state of North Dakota will bring improved coverage to first responders. The new sites are part of the FirstNet network’s expanding infrastructure for the state.
A new cell site in the state of Maryland will bring improved coverage to first responders in the city of Waldorf. The new site is part of the FirstNet network’s expanding infrastructure for the state.
New cell sites in the state of Georgia will bring improved coverage to first responders across 11 different counties. The new sites are part of the FirstNet network’s expanding infrastructure for the state.
Mississippi’s first responders are getting a major boost in their wireless communications with the addition of new, purpose-built FirstNet cell sites as well as the addition of Band-14 to more than 400 sites across the state. This new infrastructure is a part of the FirstNet network expansion that is bringing increased coverage, capacity, and capabilities for public safety.
Sacred Cross EMS provides EMS and emergency and non-emergency ambulance transport services across North and West Texas. Many of the areas that the company services are rural, and cellular coverage is traditionally sparse. With the help of FirstNet, Sacred Cross is able to communicate among crews, with hospitals, and with dispatch provide better patient care in these remote areas during everyday incidents and planned events.
Maine’s first responders got a major boost in their wireless communications with the addition of new, purpose-built FirstNet cell sites – located in Aroostook, Penobscot, Oxford, Somerset, Hancock, Kennebec and Knox counties. This new infrastructure was a part of the FirstNet network expansion taking place across the state, bringing increased coverage, capacity and capabilities for public safety.
The FirstNet Authority’s Public Safety Advocacy team proactively reaches out to public safety to discuss FirstNet and elicit feedback and insight regarding their communication needs for public safety broadband and innovative technologies. In the East region, the team includes seven public safety advisors covering a geographically diverse region of 19 states.
With the deployment of FirstNet cell sites and Band 14 across New England, tens of thousands of first responders are using FirstNet to support their response to COVID-19, natural disasters, and other emergencies.
The Texas A&M Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center (ITEC) in College Station, Texas plays an important role in developing public safety broadband technologies. Through its annual Winter Institute Workshop and Exercise, ITEC has brought together industry and public safety leaders to test and developing apps and services that benefit first responders.
Cell phone communications are traditionally a challenge at the annual American Birkebeiner Ski Race, which is hosted in rural northwest Wisconsin. At past “Birkie” events, first responders have struggled to remain connected along the trails, but with a FirstNet SatCOLT (satellite cell on light truck) providing a mobile cellular connection, coverage was not a concern at the 2020 Birkie.
In March 2020, several tornadoes tore across middle Tennessee. In Putnam County, 80 miles outside of Nashville, an EF-4 tornado caused major damage to structures and a public safety radio tower. With communications severely limited, state and local first responders turned to FirstNet for coverage from deployables and push-to-talk on smartphones.