November 3, 2022 | By Adam Z. Lein | PocketNow |
If you’re not part of the first responder agencies in the U.S.A., you probably have never heard of FirstNet. We’re going change that now.
If you’re not part of any of the emergency services or first responders agencies in the U.S.A., you probably have never heard of FirstNet. We’re going to change that now because FirstNet and the technology that is being used on FirstNet is going to go a long way towards saving lives during future disasters. We’re talking about special phones, special robots, special satellite internet connections, cell towers on wheels, and flying cell towers that can be deployed practically anywhere in order to help first responders and medical personnel rescue those in danger. Honestly, it’s something that probably should have been put together decades ago.
What is FirstNet?
FirstNet is a federal government agency that maintains a special network meant to be used by first responders and medical personnel during an emergency. AT&T is the contractor that has been developing and deploying equipment for the FirstNet network since 2017. The wireless cellular FirstNet network was given a special band (band 14) on the electromagnetic spectrum in the U.S.A. such that the network is completely separate from consumer cellular networks. That means that it’s much more likely to stay functional during emergencies since there aren’t millions of other regular people using it. You’ve probably been to a sporting event or concert with a lot of people who are trying to use the internet on their smartphones, and that causes it to become very slow and unreliable. We don’t want that to happen for emergency personnel. They need to be able to communicate reliably in order to save lives.
FirstNet cell towers are often installed alongside regular consumer towers, but there are also 2000 other dedicated FirstNet towers throughout the country. Most are using LTE technology on Band 14, but there is one 5G core in use with more to come later, but the main goal isn’t so much speed as the quality and reliability…
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