It seems like every time you turn on the news, some new emergency crisis is causing havoc. Whether you’re in California and dealing with wildfires, you’re in Florida dealing with an epic hurricane, or you’re in Wisconsin dealing with an ice storm, emergencies happen every day. AT&T, the largest telecommunications company in the world, is helping us stay safe.
Thanks to AT&T, we are all in a little better shape when it comes to handling emergencies. All 50 states, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, have officially signed onto FirstNet. In case you don’t know what FirstNet is all about, it’s a government program operated by AT&T that provides critical emergency response communications all across the country. This is a huge win for AT&T as it will manage FirstNet for 25 years with a $40 billion budget … not to mention AT&T scored a robust $6.5 billion as an initial incentive. Plus, AT&T will begin to generate a new source of revenue from emergency responders, like local police and fire departments.
So what does FirstNet provide to all of us? Emergency communication. According to FirstNet’s website: “its mission is to develop, build and operate the nationwide, broadband network that equips first responders to save lives and protect U.S. communities.” No matter the emergency, communication is key. Better communication equals better response which equals better safety for all. Although FirstNet is primarily for first responders, AT&T is developing ways it can be used by the general public as well.
We can only hope that with such a large chunk of change being put into a government-funded program, AT&T will provide a premier emergency communication platform. Time will tell how successful and reliable this program will be.
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Photo by Harry Burk on Unsplash
