FirstNet tops 4 million connections for 23,000-plus agencies, AT&T says

FirstNet provides more than 4 million connections to more than 23,000 public-safety agencies while continuing to play a significant role in the postpaid wireless subscriber growth figures for contractor AT&T, according to information released yesterday by the carrier.

During the third quarter that ended on Sept. 30, FirstNet added 334,000 connections, which represents a significant portion of AT&T’s 708,000 postpaid net wireless-phone additions for the period. These additions, combined with the 3.7 million FirstNet connections total reported after the second quarter, means that FirstNet has topped the 4 million-connections threshold for the first time.

In addition, FirstNet was providing service to more than 23,000 public-safety agencies, according to information provided by an AT&T spokesperson. This marks a gain of about 1,200 agencies from the 21,800 agencies cited in the second quarter.

AT&T CEO John Stankey applauded AT&T employees’ effort to restore communications in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which hit the eastern U.S. early in October.

“In the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the ability to connect with others proved to be invaluable to so many people,” Stankey said during the company’s quarterly conference call with analysts.

“Our teams were, yet again, some of the very first to arrive on the scene, working tirelessly for our customers. The effort they made—along with first responders supported by FirstNet—to keep our network running in some of the hardest-hit areas was nothing short of heroic. I’m really grateful for their sacrifices, and all of AT&T is proud of their efforts.”

Stankey acknowledged potential challenges that AT&T and other wireless carriers could face in a difficult economy, but he expressed confidence in the company’s mobility business, particularly with the momentum being realized through FirstNet.

“We’ve been getting more than our fair share in that segment, and a lot of it’s been driven out of FirstNet,” Stankey said. “I don’t expect that trend to necessarily abate right now, even in a down economic cycle.”

AT&T did not provide an update about its buildout of the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) on the FirstNet Authority’s 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum. A year ago, AT&T announced that it was more than 95% completed with its planned Band 14 deployment that was included in its initial contract with the FirstNet Authority, but the remaining coverage included some of the most locations to cover. AT&T officials have expressed confidence that the company will finish this initial five-year buildout by the scheduled deadline at the end of March 2023, which is less than six months from now.

Indeed, AT&T has gained more than 2.2 million postpaid phone net additions through the first nine months of this year—a figure that “we expect will be an industry best,” Stankey said. FirstNet appears to have played a significant role in this growth, with about 1 million connections being added for the same time period—reaching 4 million connections this quarter after topping the 3 million threshold at the end of 2021.

Exactly how much the 334,000 FirstNet connections contributed to AT&T’s 708,000 postpaid net additions for the third quarter is impossible to discern, because AT&T has not identified how many of the connections support postpaid phones or how many of the FirstNet connections previously subscribed to AT&T’s commercial network. To date, AT&T has not shared any breakdowns regarding the types of users or types of connections that comprise the reported FirstNet adoption figures.

However, FirstNet surpassing 4 million connections is a significant milestone. In the early days of the FirstNet Authority, many industry analysts projected that the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) addressable market only had an addressable market of 3 million local fire, police and EMS public-safety personnel.

Given this, FirstNet would have to achieve a virtual monopoly in the public-safety broadband sector To reach the 3 million mark. Many industry observers considered this an almost impossible task, because public-safety agencies are not required to use FirstNet, and Verizon was the clear sector leader when FirstNet contract was awarded to AT&T in March 2017.

Conventional wisdom during that period also noted that any market shifts within the public-safety broadband arena likely would not begin to happen until about 2020, when the FirstNet system operating on 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum was supposed to be 60% complete, if the contractor met proposed schedules. Others questioned whether FirstNet would have significant adoption before the NPSBN was 80% complete.

But AT&T drastically changed the NPSBN adoption timetable by announcing in March 2017 that FirstNet subscribers would have access to AT&T’s commercial LTE spectrum—with priority and preemption, once that capability could be implemented—in addition to the Band 14 airwaves licensed to the FirstNet Authority.

With AT&T commercial spectrum and network infrastructure already in place, a FirstNet offering quickly was established and subscriptions began gathering momentum, particularly as Band 14 coverage became a reality in many parts of the country.

AT&T reported that FirstNet topped 1 million connections in December 2019, 2 million connections early in 2021, and 3 million connections at the end of 2021.