Broadband  |  2023-08-09

FirstNet, Built with AT&T announces membership to TCCA

Source: The Critical Communications Review | Gert Jan Wolf editor

FirstNet, Built with AT&T announced its membership to TCCA, the global member-led organization working for the advancement of critical communications.

Shaped by the vision of the US Congress and the first responder community following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, FirstNet is built with AT&T in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) – an independent agency within the federal government. FirstNet is the only network built with and for America’s first responders and the public safety community. It provides first responders with unique benefits like always-on priority and preemption, as well as high-quality Band 14 spectrum to give them a dedicated lane of connectivity when they need it. Today, the FirstNet network is delivering its dedicated Band 14 spectrum and its physically separate and dedicated core to over 5 million connections, covering more than 25,000 public safety agencies. 

As a member of TCCA, FirstNet will be able to share expertise on public-private partnerships for mission-critical communications networks and help guide the industry to create more innovative solutions that will help keep communities and first responders safer around the globe. 

“As public safety’s partner, we intimately understand the importance of communications in a crisis,” said Ryan Burchnell, Director of Public Safety Strategy & Development. “By working alongside TCCA and its members, we can further open up conversations with government agencies, device manufacturers, application providers and other mobility operators around the world to collaborate on mission critical solutions.”

 Within its Working Groups, interoperability and certification programs, and via its world-leading Critical Communications World event, TCCA members and partners set the agenda for the global development of critical communications.

 “The strategy of many governments to deliver mission critical broadband to their essential agencies is through partnering with existing wireless telco networks. We are very pleased to welcome FirstNet, Built with AT&T to our global membership, given the highly successful partnering they have established with the FirstNet Authority to build their FirstNet capability across the US,” said TCCA CEO Kevin Graham. “We look forward to the valuable information sharing they can contribute to peers and end users across our global community, allowing our members around the world to leverage their success.”