Audio Verizon Frontline: Experts discuss Mississippi exercise with National Guard 5th March 2024 Lt. Col. Marcos Rogers of the Mississippi Army National Guard joins Verizon Frontline’s Mark Paff (senior director, business continuity and event management) and Earl Struble, associate director for the Crisis Response Team-South Region) to discuss the recent PATRIOT 24 exercise that is designed to simulate the rapid-recovery efforts that need to be executed during […]
Partner content At MWC, AT&T and AST execs talk up space-based possibilities 29th February 2024 MWC24 – BARCELONA – The wireless industry’s space race increasingly looks like a two-company contest between AT&T, partnering with AST SpaceMobile, and T-Mobile, linked up with SpaceX’s Starlink. The latter effort has gotten much more attention, thanks to Starlink’s enormous constellation of satellites that now includes direct-to-cell versions and also to Elon Musk’s outsized, no-inner-monologue presence on X. During MWC, Musk posted onto X […]
News FirstNet Authority board, task force to assess AT&T outage, suggest potential prevention measures 29th February 2024 AT&T’s hours-long network outage that impacted FirstNet service last week will be discussed by the FirstNet Authority board during an open meeting next week, as well as the focus of a new task force created specifically to assess the incident and recommend strategies to help avoid a repeat in the future. FirstNet Authority Executive Director […]
Partner content SpaceX makes first social-media post using Starlink direct-to-cell satellites 29th February 2024 SpaceX has posted its first status on X (formerly Twitter) using Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell satellite network in space. “This post was sent through a SpaceX Direct to Cell satellite in space,” the company wrote on X. Musk re-shared the post, adding that no special equipment was used to make the status. Only a mobile phone and […]
News AT&T filing with SEC outlines new payment schedule to FirstNet Authority 29th February 2024 AT&T will pay more than $5.1 billion during the next five years to the FirstNet Authority, which plans to use this money to help fund the $8 billion commitment to enhance the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) that is being built and maintained by AT&T, according to the carrier’s recent filing with the SEC. AT&T […]
News AT&T CEO on outage: “We let down many” 28th February 2024 AT&T CEO John Stankey addressed the carrier’s massive Feb. 22 outage that impacted FirstNet and commercial service, stating in a letter to company employees that “we let down many of our customers” and apologizing, but the exact cause of the hours-long disruption remains murky. In the letter released on Sunday, Stankey noted that AT&T’s restoration […]
Partner content For faster emergency response, New York’s fire department looks to AI 27th February 2024 The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) is tapping technology from the smart transportation-focused C2SMARTER research center to speed up emergency responses in traffic-congested areas. In the last decade, the average response time between a 911 call for a life-threatening medical emergency and on-site FDNY arrival rose about 10%, from 6 minutes, 45 seconds to 7 minutes, 26 seconds, […]
Partner content Counting the cost of AT&T’s outage 27th February 2024 AT&T said it will offer customers a $5 credit to apologize for its recent outage. According to one estimate, that could cost the company up to $140 million. That figure puts AT&T roughly in line with other mobile network operators struggling with similar issues. For example, Australian operator Optus said its 2023 outage cost the company around $40 […]
Partner content AT&T suffers extended nationwide outage, prioritizes FirstNet restoration 22nd February 2024 AT&T today suffered a nationwide outage of its wireless services that included interruption to the FirstNet nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN), which the carrier giant has been building and maintaining for almost seven years. During the early hours this morning, AT&T customers began reporting what the carrier giant referenced as a “nationwide outage” that also […]
Partner content Satellite association launch aims to enhance global connectivity 21st February 2024 A new association to advance direct-to-device (D2D) satellite communication ecosystems has been launched. The Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA) is made up of several satellite operators including Viasat, Terrestar Solutions, Ligado Networks, Omnispace and Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PJSC. Combined, the companies have more than 100 megahertz of L- and S-band spectrum which could […]
Latest 3GPP standards-development work includes new classes of HPUE, progress on mission-critical services 22nd April 2024
Is LMR the best solution for first responders? Should 4.9 GHz license go to the FirstNet Authority? 2 24th March 2024