AT&T said on Monday that emergency personnel contracted with FirstNet can now use its low-band 5G in 10 cities. In 10 locations, FirstNet users can use operator sub-6GHz 5G spectrum, including Austin, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Knoxville, Phoenix, Raleigh and San Antonio.
As early as April of this year, AT&T tested 5G for FirstNet users in Houston. Earlier this year, the company had opened 5G networks using millimeter wave spectrum (branded as 5G+) to first responders in parts of 38 cities and 20 venues through FirstNet. AT&T predicts that by the end of 2021, two more cities and 20 venues (40 in total) will be added.
In terms of business, AT&T’s sub-GHz version of 5G uses dynamic spectrum sharing to allocate and share spectrum resources between 4G and 5G users, covering 250 million people in nearly 500 markets in the United States.
According to the operator, its 5G method for emergency personnel is different from that of ordinary consumers because public safety users have priority and preemptive rights in LTE voice communications. In terms of data traffic, a dedicated public safety network, as part of the public-private partnership between AT&T and FirstNet Authority, will determine the best path to use the 5G or 4G/LTE spectrum.
FirstNet has a dedicated spectrum of 14 bands of 20MHz, but users can also use AT&T’s commercial LTE frequency bands. Operators will not charge extra for 5G on FirstNet, but first responders need a 5G device that can be connected to FirstNet.
AT&T has previously stated that it will support FirstNet to switch to 5G, including upgrading to a 5G core network. After winning the contract to build FirstNet, AT&T vigorously promoted the public safety and first responder community-bringing increasingly fierce competition to this field, especially against the historically powerful Verizon. T-Mobile America has also taken its own actions to try to gain a foothold in the field of public safety.
AT&T Communications CEO Jeff McElfresh (Jeff McElfresh) said on the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call in July that more than 17,000 public safety agencies have signed contracts with FirstNet, with more than 2.5 million users. This is an increase from approximately 16,000 agencies and 2.2 million connections at the end of the first quarter. He pointed out that these data highlight AT&T’s competitiveness in this field.
In the fiercely competitive wireless business field, our market share is growing. FirstNet has always been a key factor for us to gain share and possibly replace other operators that have long-held strong positions in the areas of public safety and communities. Michael Fresh said, The project continues to perform strongly and we have not seen any signs of slowing down.
