Navajo Nation to Boost Broadband Connectivity Using NTIA TBCP Grant
By James Careless At about 27,000 square miles covering parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, the Navajo Nation is one of the largest native reservations in the United States….
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PSSA asks FCC for FirstNet Authority license at 4.9 GHz, opposes CERCI proposal
A Public Safety Spectrum Alliance (PSSA) filing this week reiterates its call for the FCC to award a nationwide license of 4.9 GHz spectrum to the FirstNet Authority, ignoring a…
Mel Maier Takes the Helm of APCO
By James Careless After a nationwide assessment of 200-plus applicants, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials International (APCO International) has chosen Melvin (Mel) Maier as its new executive director. Maier…
Governor, AT&T mark public safety communications milestones at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport
NEWS / PRESS RELEASE On Thursday, Governor Chris Sununu, joined Safety Commissioner Robert Quinn, AT&T* and others at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport to mark several milestones in the state’s buildout of FirstNet,…
FirstNet has about 5.3 million connections, 27K agencies, according to AT&T
FirstNet provides about 5.3 million connections to approximately 27,000 public-safety agencies subscribing to the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) as of the end of September, according to figures released last…
FirstNet Authority releases aviation and maritime case study for public safety broadband
By Charles Murph, Senior Public Safety Advisor, First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) First responders respond to incidents in all types of environments—on land, in the air, and on water—and…
Secretary Raimondo Appoints Telecom, Technology Exec to FirstNet Authority Board
RESTON, Va., September 26, 2023 – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced the appointment of Sean McDevitt to serve on the Board of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority). Mr. McDevitt is a partner with international management consulting firm…
FirstNet MegaRange Delivers More Transmission Power, Wider Coverage
By James Careless First responders have long struggled with ‘signal dropouts’ in areas where their communications devices can’t connect to Dispatch and/or each other. They can be caused by radio…
FirstNet Exclusive: AT&T Delivers New Suite of MegaRange Solutions to Strengthen Connectivity at the Network Edge
First all-in-one High Powered User Equipment (HPUE) solutions support in-building, vehicle and field operations. What’s the news? With FirstNet, the nation’s only network built with and for America’s first responders, AT&T* is…
Vision 2023 Summit Returns to Las Vegas Sept. 25-28
FirstNet® Users Conference Brings Public Safety Together NEWS / PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 6, 2023 Las Vegas, NV — Vision 2023: the FirstNet Users Summit is coming back…
Coordinated response: How citywide FirstNet deployments benefit law enforcement
By Harry Markley, Senior Public Safety Advisor, First Responder Network Authority Citywide deployments of FirstNet make operations more efficient by creating seamless communication and data transfer among all response partners. Three…
FirstNet Authority Board Approves FY24 Budget for Operations, Network Investments
August 23, 2023 NEWS / PRESS RELEASE (Tacoma, WA) – The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) Board today approved a $451 million budget package to fund operations in Fiscal…
FirstNet, Built with AT&T | Connecting First Responders for Maui Wildfires
Dedicated FirstNet Assets in Hawai‘i Kākou. While the literal translation is simply “us,” the kaona (or hidden meaning) underpins that we are in this together. It is also a principle embodied…
LMR and FirstNet: Getting the Most from Both
By James Careless Before the advent of FirstNet over AT&T’s dedicated broadband cellular network, land mobile radio (LMR) was the go-to communications system for first responder agencies. Now that FirstNet…
Vision 2023 Promises to be Another FirstNet Success
By James Careless Last year’s Vision 2022 conference and trade show brought together the FirstNet user community for three days in the Las Vegas sun. It was such a success…