The year is 2017. AT&T makes a huge move announcing a partnership with FirstNet to deliver America’s nationwide public safety broadband network. Throughout the years, the partnership blossoms into a major nationwide network initiative.
As an independent agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunication and Information Administration, FirstNet Authority is still dedicated to emergency responders and the public safety community. To date, AT&T has seen success with the partnership to the tune of 5.5 million connections to about 27,500 agencies.
In 2019, T-Mobile announced Magenta First Responder, extending discounts that were given to military, veterans, and military families before. This program is still active to this day, with T-Mobile offering big savings on the Go5G family of plans. In 2020, the Connecting Heroes program offered free unlimited service for first responder agencies.
The wireless industry has been increasingly sensitive to ensure first responders and connectivity in times of crisis, especially after Verizon admitted to throttling emergency personnel during a California wildfire in 2018.
T-Mobile has now made their next move for first responders called T-Priority.
T-Mobile Levels Up Their First Responder Support
T-Mobile announced T-Priority on September 18th, calling it ‘The World’s First Network Slice for First Responders’. The service comes with three major benefits.
First, T-Mobile is introducing a new level of priority access across all 5G bands for T-Priority, even during times of extreme congestion. “Network slicing” allows T-Mobile to split the network into what are basically separate roads heading to the same place. If you’re on T-Priority, you get access to the less-busy road. This ensures that, even during maximum congestion for most customer, first responders always have a path to get the data and connectivity they need.
Next, T-Mobile is offering ‘the latest technological solutions’, hardware support for first responders from brands like Motorola, Ericsson, and 3rd-Eye Technologies, Inc. The company promises that the latest and greatest equipment is being used to ensure top-of-the-line service.
Finally, T-Mobile will have a 24/7 emergency team ready to support disasters, public safety incidents, large events, and more. A fleet of emergency vehicles is ready to jump into action to to restore coverage and boost capacity, ensuring first responders and communities alike stay connected.
T-Mobile describes the service like ‘a traffic cop’. It is always directing network traffic to ensure first responders have the priority lanes for their data/network traffic. Like how highway traffic still has room in the breakdown lane for the ambulance – T-Priority allows those providing emergency services to get there in time to support communities quickly.
“First responders put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities, and they deserve nothing less than the most advanced connectivity solutions to do their critical work. With T-Priority, we’re more committed than ever to serving those who serve us all by delivering a dedicated 5G solution to agencies of all sizes across the country. At T-Mobile, our job is to make sure first responders can count on a consistent 5G experience that will evolve to meet the changing needs of the first responder mission, backed by a dedicated, award-winning support system, to be ready when it matters most.”
T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert
The City of New York has already signed on the dotted line to become the ‘anchor customer’ for T-Priority.
“Our north star for the City of New York is to make it safer and more affordable for all New Yorkers, including our dedicated public servants. Providing our agencies and all city employees with the latest technologies is crucial to achieving this mission, and with T-Priority we will continue to do so.”
New York City CTO Matthew Fraser
T-Mobile also lists other day-to-day T-Priority features.
- Priority access and preemption for voice and data on the nation’s leading 5G network
- 2.5x faster speeds on average than other providers for data-intensive communications
- 40% more 5G capacity than other providers to help more first responders stay connected
- More 5G coverage than AT&T and Verizon, with T-Mobile covering 98% of Americans. And T-Mobile recently made significant investment to expand coverage in rural America to tackle coverage gaps
- Enhanced security with access to a security slice from T-Mobile SASE that helps defend against cyberthreats
Interested First Responder agencies can apply now on T-Mobile’s website to learn more about the program.
