AT&T has been awarded the 25-year contract to provide a nationwide mobile broadband network for first responders in the US, beating out rival bidder Rivada Mercury, which recently lost an appeal over its exclusion from the tender. In a statement, AT&T confirmed that the the FirstNet system will cover all 50 states, 5 US territories and the District of Columbia, creating 10,000 jobs during the first two years and “tens of thousands” of jobs during the entire contract period. According to the FirstNet’s request for proposals (RFP), AT&T will gain access to 20 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum and USD 6.5 billion, but will pay at least USD 5.6 billion back to FirstNet during the next 25 years. AT&T will spend about USD 40 billion over the life of the contract to build, deploy, operate and maintain the network, and will also connect FirstNet users to the company’s telecommunications network assets.
In addition to creating a nationwide IP-based, high-speed mobile communications network that will give first responders priority access, AT&T said the network will help improve rescue and recovery operations to keep first responders out of harm’s way, better connect first responders to the critical information they need in an emergency and further the development of public safety focused IoT and Smart City solutions such as providing near real-time information on traffic conditions to determine the fastest route to an emergency. In addition, the network will pave the way to advanced capabilities like wearable sensors and cameras for police and firefighters, and camera-equipped drones and robots that can deliver near real-time images of events, such as fires, floods or crimes.
Created by an act of Congress in 2012, the First Responder Network Authority launched a tender for a network operator in January 2016. In October, pdvWireless stated that it was no longer being considered for the award, while the other bidder, Rivada Mercury, filed a lawsuit in federal court in November protesting the decision to exclude its proposal from the competitive range for the contract. The RIvada consortium includes Ericsson, Fujitsu, Harris, Intel Security, Nokia and Black & Veatch.
