https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • Microwave/RF
    • T&D World
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookies Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet


News

AT&T CEO highlights benefits of FirstNet, potential 5G use cases for critical infrastructure, enterprises

AT&T CEO highlights benefits of FirstNet, potential 5G use cases for critical infrastructure, enterprises

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 20th September 2019

Winning the bid to build the nationwide FirstNet system on 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum has been very beneficial to AT&T overall strategy, allowing the carrier to grow its wireless business, improve network quality and lay the foundation for the transition to 5G, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said this week.

“FirstNet has gone off the charts,” Stephenson said during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference. “It’s been as good as we could have ever hoped.”

When the FirstNet Authority issued its request for proposals in 2016, AT&T identified the project as “a must-win for us,” Stephenson said. In addition to getting access to the 10×10 MHz swath of 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to the FirstNet Authority, the FirstNet buildout required telecom crews to install new gear on towers throughout the country—something AT&T was going to have to do to deploy significant swaths of fallow spectral holdings and to ready its network for 5G, Stephenson said.

“By virtue of FirstNet, spectrum aggregation, 5G, we’re climbing these cell towers one time and accomplishing three purposes,” he said. “We’ve been doing this, and we’re literally—over the course of about three years—are increasing the entire nationwide capacity of the AT&T wireless network by 50%.

“I’ve been doing this almost 38 years. Those words have never come out of my mouth, to just, that quickly, boost capacity in a nationwide network by 50%.”

As a result of this work, AT&T now has “unequivocally the fastest wireless network, the best-quality network,” Stephenson said, noting that “we’ve exceeded the competition, and the gap is widening.” In addition, these efforts have positioned the company to have a nationwide 5G footprint in the middle of next year on its commercial spectrum bands below 6 GHz, he said.

Industry experts have stated that deploying 5G in the sub-6 GHz will let carriers deliver greater data throughput speeds. But Stephenson noted that “what 5G facilitates goes so much beyond that,” particularly where ultra-dense cell networks operating on millimeter-wave airwaves—leveraging hundreds of MHz of spectrum, in some cases—are deployed.

“You’re moving into an era of connectivity like we haven’t conceived of before,” he said. “This isn’t just marginally better.”

While 4G LTE can support thousands of devices in a square mile, 5G can support millions of devices in the same geographic area, which is “a different business proposition for everybody,” Stephenson said.

Location-based services also should improve, which could greatly enhance security efforts, according to Stephenson.

“In 4G, because you’re using basically GPS technology, [carriers can] locate a device, a car or whatever within meters,” Stephenson said. “In the world of 5G, you begin to locate devices within a couple of centimeters—you’re measuring in centimeters.

“Now, think about this from a security standpoint. [For] somebody in banking, who might have a card with say, a large-scale equipment manufacturer like Apple, [think about] what that could mean to you in terms of security—being able to locate an individual within centimeters of a particular area, being able to set up geo-fencing in a particular area, and [establishing policies that] ‘You can only access our data if you’re in that particular area,’ measured within centimeters. That’s a big game changer, as well.”

With 5G’s high-speed and low-latency connectivity, providers like AT&T can deliver “real-time networking” capabilities that could result in broadband devices being redesigned, because computer processing can be executed at the network edge, instead of relying solely on the processing power within the device, Stephenson said.

“All of a sudden, when you have networks this fast, you can begin to push a lot of these requirements into the edge of the network,” Stephenson said. “So, you’re getting cloud distributed down to the edge of the network. This brings a whole different level of speed, but it also brings a whole different level of imagination, in terms of what your form factors starts to look like.”

In this environment concepts like Google Glass “that everybody laughed about … is truly feasible,” Stephenson said. In addition, low-power, microscopic sensors could become realistic, which could have significant impacts on a number of sectors, including traffic management, autonomous cars, pipeline management and utility systems, he said.

“What it facilitates is a whole different level of thinking,” Stephenson said.

This notion that 5G networks could have such a broad societal impact in many critical-infrastructure arenas necessitates careful consideration of some significant policy decisions, particularly as it relates to security issues, according to Stephenson.

“I have to remind people, if it goes here, then think about how much of our country’s infrastructure [and] day-to-day business activity is underpinned by this kind of technology,” Stephenson said. “Then ask yourself: Is it rational that the United States government has a concern about who might be supplying that kind of infrastructure?”

 

Tags: homepage-featured-4 5G Applications Companies Coverage/Interference Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Enterprise Federal Government/Military Incident Command/Situational Awareness Internet of Things IoT/Smart X Long Term Evolution (LTE) News NTIA/FirstNet Policy Public Safety Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet Security Standards State & Local Government Subscriber Devices System Design System Installation System Operation Tower & Site Tracking, Monitoring & Control News

Most Recent


  • Sesame Solar leverages mobile solar, hydrogen to power efforts beyond the grid
    Michigan-based startup Sesame Solar recently launched the latest version of its easily deployable nanogrids that promise to deliver electric power indefinitely—without the need for diesel-powered generation—via complementary solar and hydrogen-fuel-cell technologies, according to company co-founder and CEO Lauren Flanagan. “What we’re announcing is the world’s first 100% renewable, mobile emergency-response nanogrid,” Flanagan said during an […]
  • AT&T CEO highlights benefits of FirstNet, potential 5G use cases for critical infrastructure, enterprises
    Newscan: On front lines, communications breakdowns prove costly for Ukraine
    Web Roundup Items from other news organizations On front lines, communications breakdowns prove costly for Ukraine Recording between dispatcher, firefighters gives new insight into human-smuggling tragedy Updated digital forensics database speeds criminal investigations Frontier Communications facing questions after rural Arizona 911 outage 911 center software can interpret any language used in text message CISA: Switch […]
  • China-backed APT pwns building-automation systems with ProxyLogon
    A previously unknown Chinese-speaking advanced persistent threat (APT) is exploiting the ProxyLogon Microsoft Exchange vulnerability to deploy the ShadowPad malware, researchers said — with the end goal of taking over building-automation systems (BAS) and moving deeper into networks. That’s according to researchers at Kaspersky ICS CERT, who said that the infections affected industrial control systems […]
  • Samsung fills its 2G hole in new challenge to Ericsson and Nokia
    “If you can make gigabit speeds through software on vRAN, how difficult can 2G be?” said Woojune Kim, Samsung’s global head of sales, when confronted at this year’s Mobile World Congress with the 2G hole in its product portfolio. Three months since then, “not that difficult” seems to be the answer, although the virtualized 2G […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • New Orleans-area 911 center inks multiyear APEX deal with Carbyne to replace call-handling system
  • IoT connectivity spending climbs as COVID-19 cases decline
  • APCO, NENA, NASNA speakers cite ‘discussions’ to address NG911 funding issues
  • UK officials revamp ESN plans again, target Airwave-to-LTE transition for end of 2026

Commentary


LTE and liability: Why the fire service must move forward with digital incident command

  • 2
6th May 2022

Partnership and collaboration must be the foundation for emergency communications

18th April 2022

FirstNet success means no hypothetical ‘shots’ need to be fired, Swenson says

22nd February 2022
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Sesame Solar leverages mobile solar, hydrogen to power efforts beyond the grid dlvr.it/ST8m3K

1st July 2022
UrgentComm

Newscan: On front lines, communications breakdowns prove costly for Ukraine dlvr.it/ST7fnC

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

China-backed APT pwns building-automation systems with ProxyLogon dlvr.it/ST6q7m

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Samsung fills its 2G hole in new challenge to Ericsson and Nokia dlvr.it/ST6hBK

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Militarized drone swarms coming dlvr.it/ST6dNz

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Take American City & County’s budgeting survey dlvr.it/ST6Yxb

30th June 2022
UrgentComm

Final cases made about Airwave, ESN, before CMA issues provisional decision on Motorola Solutions dlvr.it/ST4Q6X

29th June 2022
UrgentComm

Polaris Wireless: Manlio Allegra talks 911 Z-axis tech, future IoT opportunities dlvr.it/ST1384

28th June 2022

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • Microwave/RF
  • T&D World
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X