https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • 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
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • 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
    • Product Guides
  • 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
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • 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

U.S. Army contracts with FirstNet to support public-safety personnel at 72 installations

U.S. Army contracts with FirstNet to support public-safety personnel at 72 installations

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 14th October 2020

AT&T this week announced that the U.S. Army has selected FirstNet—the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) being built by AT&T—to provide communications to public-safety personnel at 72 Army installations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico in a 3-year deal valued at $13 million.

Jill Singer, vice president of defense and national security for AT&T’s Public Sector and FirstNet units, said AT&T officials expect to begin delivering FirstNet devices and services to the U.S. Army installations this month and to complete the process by the end of the years.

“AT&T is very proud to be the provider of FirstNet and very proud to bring the FirstNet capabilities to the Army through this Installation Management Command (IMCOM) acquisition, and we look forward to serving them,” Singer said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

“This procurement was roughly 3,200 initial users, keeping in mind that it is not meant to cover every Army person. It’s really meant for the first responders associated with the Army.”

Col. Kevin Comfort, Command Provost Marshal at the IMCOM headquarters located in Joint Base San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, said the FirstNet system is ideal to meet the needs of the police, fire and EMS personnel serving at the Army installations.

“FirstNet is helping us improve vital communications on our installations, depots and arsenals, including during catastrophic disasters or emergencies when communications capabilities are strained,” Comfort said in a prepared statement.

“We’re adopting FirstNet, because it is designed for public-safety professionals with priority, preemption and highly reliable data communications that will improve our overall response and our interoperability with our civilian partners.”

Singer echoed this sentiment.

“Just like your local municipalities, the Army installations around the country have police, fire, EMS and other emergency services,” Singer said. “They will be able to leverage FirstNet, so that they can improve the safety of the people and the workforce they have on the post.

“Just as important, it allows them to have interoperability with the local municipalities that are outside the base. Often, an event that happens on the base or near the base is jointly responded to by the base personnel, as well as local communities’ first responders.”

Indeed, FirstNet is the only qualified provider of all services needed by these personnel at the U.S. Army installations.

“There are no alternatives available to the federal government that comply with all (not some) of the capabilities that are provided in the public-safety broadband network known as FirstNet,” according to a September 2018 document justifying the contract.

Under the task order, AT&T will deliver almost 3,200 FirstNet connections, more than 3,000 devices and more than 700 signal boosters to enhance connectivity inside facilities, according to an AT&T press release. As with all FirstNet subscribers, the U.S. Army also has access to the dedicated FirstNet fleet of 76 deployable SatCOLTs, flying COWs and the FirstNet One blimp to provide LTE coverage where the AT&T terrestrial network is not available.

This U.S. Army contract represents the beginning of a growing trend for FirstNet, according to Singer.

“I would say that, in the lifespan of FirstNet, we’re just getting started,” she said. “I think that you’ll see more and more federal entities—including military entities—using and acquiring FirstNet to support their responders.”

Singer said that AT&T is working with the U.S. Army to determine where coverage may need to be enhanced at the installations, acknowledging that deploying cell sites on and around military sites requires careful planning.

“I would stay that it is still a judicious process to determine what you would do on a military installation, because there are many activities on an Army installation,” Singer said. “You certainly do need to make sure that, if you are bringing in a new tower, it will not disrupt the missions that were happening there.

“I would say that we have good support and cooperation in working with the military, and I’d say that we have mutual interest in making sure that our U.S. military—whether it’s the Army or another branch—has not only FirstNet but other capabilities that they need to be successful. We’ll collaborate with them on where we can improve access to AT&T’s network in response to their mission needs.”

 

Tags: homepage-featured-4 Applications Backhaul Coverage/Interference Deployables Federal Government/Military Funding Incident Command/Situational Awareness Long Term Evolution (LTE) News NTIA/FirstNet Policy Public Safety Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet Regional Coordination Software Standards State & Local Government Subscriber Devices System Design System Installation System Operation Tower & Site Tracking, Monitoring & Control Video Wireless Networks News

Most Recent


  • Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding
    A coalition of public-safety associations today reiterated its support for federal legislation that would provide the funding needed to pay for 911 centers to migrate from legacy technologies to an IP-based next-generation 911 (NG911) platform that is designed to support multimedia communications, as well as traditional voice calls. Representatives of the Public Safety Next Generation […]
  • U.S. Army contracts with FirstNet to support public-safety personnel at 72 installations
    Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny
    Web Roundup Items from other news organizations Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny Blinken postpones trip to Beijing after Chinese spy balloon spotted over U.S., officials say To protect satellites, secure your networks, chief of space ops says Ransomware offlines Arizona’s largest school district Mending the fabric: FCC says to file broadband-location challenges […]
  • The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless
    Verizon had high hopes for private wireless networking. The company had predicted that by now it would be well on its way to making billions of dollars from the sale of custom 4G and 5G networks dedicated exclusively to its enterprise customers. Indeed, during 2021 Verizon execs pegged the total addressable market for private wireless at around […]
  • Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them 'verified' Cloud Partner status
    Late last year, a group of threat actors managed to obtain “verified publisher” status through the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP). This allowed them to surpass levels of brand impersonation ordinarily seen in phishing campaigns, as they distributed malicious applications bolstered by a verified blue badge only ever given to trusted vendors and service providers in […]

One comment

  1. Avatar Sean Tajkowski 22nd October 2020 @ 12:36 am
    Reply

    They did not choose to use it, like most government groups they were told to use it. Big difference.
    Pretty big marketing spin

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

  • FirstNet tops 1.5 million connections, 13,000 agencies, according to AT&T
  • AT&T expects to complete 80% of FirstNet next year, as well as nationwide 5G on spectrum below 6 GHz
  • AT&T officials expect greater FirstNet adoption as Band 14 deployment remains ahead of schedule
  • AT&T updates FirstNet numbers, says it has closed coverage gap with Verizon

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

Public-safety coalition renews efforts to secure federal NG911 funding dlvr.it/ShwGfn

4th February 2023
UrgentComm

Newscan: Cyberattacks on DoE national labs draw lawmaker scrutiny dlvr.it/Shvpw3

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

The shine begins to wear off 5G private wireless dlvr.it/Shth0P

3rd February 2023
UrgentComm

Phishers trick Microsoft into granting them ‘verified’ Cloud Partner status dlvr.it/Shqngn

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Shapeshifting robot can morph from a liquid to a solid dlvr.it/Shqk9K

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

Automakers against stampede to BEV dominance dlvr.it/ShpX08

2nd February 2023
UrgentComm

FCC nominee Gigi Sohn headed for third Senate hearing dlvr.it/ShpDcZ

1st February 2023
UrgentComm

Sign up to learn how to successfully manage your Motorola ASTRO® 25 System: spr.ly/60143j8fp https://t.co/XcxiUwzN27

1st February 2023

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
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 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.