FirstNet, built with AT&T, collaborates with SBC to offer in-building insights at IWCE 2022

FirstNet, built with AT&T, and the Safer Buildings Coalition (SBC) will collaborate to host multiple sessions at IWCE 2022 that are designed to educate the industry about AT&T’s commitment to enabling the deployment of systems that support in-building communications for public-safety personnel and the citizens they serve.

AT&T has been contracted by the FirstNet Authority to build the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) and is expected to complete its initial deployment on 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum this year. This massive effort has been focused on expanding FirstNet coverage in outdoor area, but public-safety representatives repeatedly have cited the need for coverage inside buildings, where many emergencies happen.

National fire codes have long called for in-building support of land-mobile-radio (LMR) communications, but recent language also indicates the need for systems that support in-building public-safety broadband coverage for connectivity provided by services like FirstNet.

In addition, the FirstNet Authority Roadmap that is designed to guide FirstNet Authority board members in their network-investment decisions has long acknowledged in-building coverage expansion as an organizational priority.

“Significant improvements to indoor coverage can be achieved by investing in existing and new technology solutions, as well as updating relevant policies to encourage cooperation from building developers and owners,” according to the Coverage Domain section of the FirstNet Authority Roadmap.

Numerous questions have been raised by building owners and industry about how to implement solutions that address the in-building communications need of first responders, including whether FirstNet in-building systems must meet the same level of physical and power-backup hardening as in-building LMR systems. Industry concerns also have been raised about the time required to connect an in-building system to a broader network like the one provided by AT&T.

Perhaps most important, there have been questions whether AT&T would help fund FirstNet in-building coverage within a structure, so the building owner would not have to bear the entire financial burden associated with deploying an in-building system.

SBC Managing Director John Foley said all of these topics will be addressed during the IWCE sessions that will feature SBC and AT&T.

“Those are among the many discussions that we’ll be having in the sessions,” Foley said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “There will also be plenty of time for audience Q&A. We look forward to these fresh discussions.”

AT&T, which became an SBC member early this year, will sponsor the in-building track at IWCE 2022 in Las Vegas. Scott Agnew, AT&T’s assistant vice president for FirstNet products, will deliver a keynote address at IWCE on Thursday, March 23.

“Our collaboration with SBC supports the deployment of public safety’s Band 14 spectrum, promotes in-building installation standards that meet or exceed existing code and industry best practices, and reinforces the importance of mission-centric innovation like Z-Axis technologies,” Agnew said in a prepared statement.

“We are committed to bringing first responders and the extended public-safety community a network that is second to none. And we’ll continue to be there for this vital community—no matter where their mission takes them.”

Most public-safety representatives have viewed AT&T’s progress in its FirstNet buildout to be largely successful to date. The contracted Band 14 deployment more than 95% done and will include more than 1,000 new towers in remote and rural locations that were requested by state governors in 2017.

Thanks in large part to the FirstNet initiative, AT&T now claims to have the largest coverage footprint of any U.S. wireless carrier by 50,000 square miles—a stark contrast to the more-than-400,000-square-mile deficit that AT&T had when compared to Verizon five years ago.

Meanwhile, FirstNet adoption has exceeded expectations to this point, with the NPSBN supporting more than 19,500 agencies with more than 3 million connections as of the end of 2021, according to AT&T.

SBC Executive Director Alan Perdue said

“The evolution of public-safety communications is a critical topic, and a driving force in how our first responders will be equipped to protect the public now and in the years ahead,” Perdue said in a prepared statement. “With over 3 million connections and almost 20,000 public safety agencies using FirstNet, the in-building sector and its ecosystem of industry players must get to work immediately to ensure that the benefits of FirstNet are available inside buildings—where public safety does so much of its work.”