AT&T claims the lead in public safety, but Verizon balks

Citing new studies from two different market research companies, AT&T said it is now the clear leader in the market for public safety wireless services.

But Verizon – the longtime leader in the space – isn’t buying it.

“Our statistics don’t corroborate what AT&T is saying,” Maggie Hallbach, the president of Verizon’s Frontline business, told Light Reading.

Hallbach said Verizon has been tracking public safety market share data “for many years” and is confident about its conclusions. However, she said Verizon does not share its data externally.

AT&T, on the other hand, does.

The company supplied Light Reading with information from Altman Solon and Ipsos – two market research companies – showing that AT&T recently surpassed Verizon in market share among first responders, such as police and firefighters. According to Altman Solon’s findings, AT&T moved past Verizon in the third quarter of last year. According to Ipsos, that happened in the fourth quarter of last year. Like Verizon, AT&T paid for the research to be conducted.

If AT&T’s findings are correct, it would represent a major move in a market that totaled 9.8 million connections at the end of 2022, according to research firm IDC. AT&T began offering services to first responders under a partnership with the government’s FirstNet effort roughly six years ago. The company recently announced it finished its buildout of FirstNet’s Band 14 700MHz network. Verizon, meanwhile, has long enjoyed a commanding leadership position in the market for first responders. In 2021, the company put those offerings under its Frontline brand.

Careful counting

AT&T’s FirstNet effort is “a story of continuous, consistent growth,” explained Oscar Yuan, president and partner at Ipsos Strategy3.

Yuan said Ipsos surveyed “thousands” of first responders to obtain its data, though he did not provide an exact number. He said the company conducted quantitative surveys, calibrated that data with market “knowns,” and refined its figures with third-party syndicated data and interviews with select first responders. He said the company focused on “primary” first responders, like police, firefighters and emergency medical workers.

Yuan added that Ipsos’ findings covered agency-owned mobility connections, including smartphones, in-vehicle modems and mobile hotspots, but did not count Internet of things (IoT) products nor machine-to-machine (M2M) devices.

Altman Solon’s findings are relatively similar. According to AT&T, the company based its results on “a quantitative survey of thousands of respondents and calibrated with market knowns.” Altman Solon surveyed first responders “who are directly responsible for emergency response,” such as police and firefighters. Those customers used smartphones, in-vehicle modems and mobile hotspots. Like Ipsos, Altman Solon did not count IoT solutions or M2M devices.

Neither Ipsos nor Altman Solon provided Light Reading with specific market share figures for AT&T, Verizon or other providers.

Hallbach, of Verizon, said her figures show that Verizon continues to lead among “primary” first responders, such as police and firefighters. Verizon reported around 5.1 million public safety connections across over 30,000 public safety agencies. Verizon officials also argued that the company’s figures are more credible because the company has been collecting public safety market share data for a long time and isn’t using that data in a marketing context. However, on its website, Verizon boasts that it’s “the #1 choice for first responders.”

In its count, Verizon includes corporate-liable devices, mobile broadband devices, phones and machine-to-machine gadgets. But Hallbach said Verizon has a “pretty measurable lead” if it just counts phones.

Hallbach did not provide any more data or details underpinning Verizon’s assertions.

To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.