As we know, first responders and emergency workers need to have immediate and quick access to the internet and communications during a crisis. AT&T has had their FirstNet network for years, and Verizon has their Frontline service, but T-Mobile just recently revealed T-Priority, a direct competitor to FirstNet.
AT&T, however, is apparently not too thrilled with team magenta encroaching on their space.
According to an internal document shared with us here at The Mobile Report, AT&T has informed their employees that T-Mobile “falsely claims it is the world’s first network slice for First Responders”, and slams T-Mobile for even thinking of such things.
The document explains how FirstNet is different, and better, than T-Priority, because it’s “a dedicated communications platform for public safety”, and calls T-Mobile’s move a “commercial offering”.
AT&T isn’t entirely wrong here, either. FirstNet offers an entire dedicated cellular frequency (band 14) for first responders, whereas T-Mobile’s plan is to separate traffic on their existing 5G bands using “network slicing” technology.
The internal memo goes on to further imply that T-Mobile is testing unproven technology (the aforementioned network slicing) on the wrong people, and pretty much flat-out calls T-Mobile irresponsible for doing so.
As an entire public safety network – not a slice of a commercial network – one day FirstNet can deliver 5G slicing capabilities to public safety, but use them for specific mission needs (ex: enhancing real-time video streaming for situational awareness). Currently, AT&T believes untested technology, like 5G network slicing, should be tried on commercial networks, not where a call can make all the difference in helping save someone.
As they mention in the quote above, however, AT&T plans to one day enable network slicing for FirstNet as well They’d do so by allocating it to specific needs such as important video calls.
However, they say network slicing should first be tested on commercial customers (as in, you and me), and not with critical communications such as public safety. It’s not clear when AT&T would implement network slicing for FirstNet, but it’s safe to say the company likely plans to implement it elsewhere on their network first (or at least wait and see if it works out for T-Mobile).
