Huawei customer working on AT&T’s FirstNet buildout

AT&T confirmed to Light Reading it selected Union Wireless to build FirstNet services for public-safety users across rural Wyoming.

“Union will help build out additional LTE coverage across rural communities, adding Band 14 spectrum and AT&T commercial LTE spectrum bands to cellular sites,” an AT&T spokesperson wrote in response to questions on the topic.

Union Wireless is one of the many smaller US wireless carriers that operates a network built with equipment from China’s Huawei. Officials from Union told the FCC late last year that the only way to change that situation would be to replace its existing network with a completely new one.

When questioned about Union’s ties to China’s Huawei – widely considered a major security threat to US interests – an AT&T representative said that Huawei equipment would not be part of Union’s FirstNet efforts. “AT&T will complete a detailed inspection of each cell site location to help ensure proper equipment use and deployment prior to turning a site on-air,” the representative wrote. “Once each site is live, all FirstNet traffic will flow through the FirstNet physically separate and highly secure network core, providing first responders with specialized capabilities like priority and preemption.”

This isn’t the first time AT&T has partnered with an operator with a history of using Huawei equipment. As Light Reading reported last year, AT&T selected Viaero to build FirstNet services across parts of rural Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. AT&T said at the time that Viaero wouldn’t use Huawei equipment for the project.

To read the complete article, visit Light Reading.