I’m writing this as a local fire chief in mid-Missouri and representing NAEMT on the Public Safety Advisory Committee to the FirstNet Authority. Those two roles are not separate. What happens in Washington DC, directly affects what happens in a patient’s living room, in the cab of a fire engine, or in the middle of a multi-agency incident where nothing is clean and nothing is predictable.
For a system or product to be preferred by its users, it has to offer unique features that are not provided by its competitors.
Take wireless broadband communications for first responders—the police, fire EMS, and other public safety agencies that protect the public and save lives. In this area, FirstNet is the preferred network for first responders, precisely because it has unique features that no other carrier can offer.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency within the Department of Commerce, appears to be pursuing a coup to take control over the FirstNet Authority. I have been informed that draft legislative language has been circulating that would materially alter FirstNet’s governance structure. Notably, credible reporters have contacted individuals for comment on legislation that those individuals had not seen—suggesting that information has been selectively shared outside stakeholder channels.
Using the FirstNet network offers specific and substantial value for Emergency Communications Centers (ECCs) and broader emergency communications operations. The FirstNet network is designed for public safety rather than general consumer use, and that creates several operational advantages to ECCs when compared to relying solely on commercial cellular networks. FirstNet provides ECCs with a dedicated broadband connection that is more reliable during major events or network congestion. FirstNet’s priority access and redundancy for public safety communications help ensure ECCs stay connected when it matters most, using strong encryption to protect sensitive data. FirstNet also offers built-in back-up options like assets that are deployable and can restore connectivity if the primary infrastructure fails. Further, FirstNet supports high speed data between ECCs and field units, which can enhance operations. FirstNet can be utilized for CAD systems and GIS mapping to enable faster and more accurate decision-making. FirstNet also enables seamless communications across jurisdictions and platforms which is critical for complex multiagency responses and situational awareness.
FirstNet was built for public safety with public safety priorities in mind, which is why every ECC support FirstNet reauthorization by signing the petition.
by: James Careless
In the wake of 9/11, when communication failures among first responders cost lives, Congress created the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN), a dedicated nationwide broadband system for public safety. Managed by the FirstNet Authority and known as FirstNet, the NPSBN ensures that police, fire, EMS, and other public safety agencies have access to nationwide broadband service at all times.
The concept behind the NPSBN is to provide first responders with reliable voice, data, and video connectivity over 4G/LTE and 5G networks. It is the first broadband network in U.S. history built specifically for mission-critical public safety use. This coverage encompasses all 50 states, including the most rural and remote areas. (FirstNet has over 250,000 more square miles of coverage than any other network.) The wireless connections are made by NPSBN-enabled smartphones and tablets.
“The Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network is managed by the FirstNet Authority, which is a board within the Department of Commerce and NTIA composed of public safety practitioners and experts in commercial wireless networks,” said Chief Jeffrey Johnson, Chief Emeritus with the Western Fire Chiefs Association and their Wireless Policy-Partnerships Advisor. “That board sets policy for operations, network buildouts, and the reinvestment schedule for FirstNet, whose wireless infrastructure is provided by AT&T under a competitively-bid contract.”
Unlike any other wireless service offered in the United States, FirstNet provides exclusive access to Band 14 for first responders. This is a swath of the radio spectrum that has been reserved for public safety users. In routine conditions, AT&T may allow commercial users onto Band 14. But when a FirstNet eligible responder uses the network, they have unrestricted access to to the network without doing anything other than using their device. There are no codes to punch in: Simply use your device.
“You can understand how Band 14 works by thinking of it as a VIP lane on the highway,” said Chief Johnson. “When first responders use the network, this lane is cleared of all non-emergency traffic. This ensures that emergency communications can get through without delays or problems.”
To support this VIP-lane model, Band 14 is designed with two capabilities: priority and preemption. “By priority, we mean that first responder traffic comes first,” Chief Johnson said. “By preemption, we mean that whenever public safety uses their device, any competing non-first responder traffic is removed from Band 14 as required.”
FirstNet is the operational name for the NPSBN in the U.S. It combines dedicated public-safety governance through the FirstNet Authority with nationwide network infrastructure built by AT&T.
A key advantage is FirstNet/AT&T’s exclusive access to dedicated Band 14. Because they lack access to Band 14, no other commercial cellular carrier can make this claim.
The biggest differentiator between FirstNet via AT&T and all other non-NPSBN services offered by other carriers is Band 14. Without it, non-NPSBN carriers have to mix public safety traffic in with their commercial users on the same evolved packet core.
“This means that police, fire, and EMS using a non-NPSBN service are subject to a commercial grade network without FirstNet oversight that ensures that public safety is protected,” said Chief Johnson. “Without the FirstNet Authority and the contract they enforce, all you have is a well-marketed commercial service that portrays itself as being there for public safety but without the contractual guarantees and related penalties.”
“It’s simple: FirstNet has a VIP lane for first responders patrolled by FirstNet Authority who act as traffic cops,” Chief Johnson said. “Other carriers don’t.”
To illustrate this situation, non-NPSBN carriers have been known to reduce access to first responders — a practice known as “throttling” — whenever their networks get overloaded by traffic. Because commercial carriers manage traffic for profit, throttling is permitted under standard customer agreements — even when it affects public safety.
This occurred during the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire in California, when Verizon throttled the service of firefighters. “This throttling has had a significant impact on our ability to provide emergency services,” Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District’s Fire Chief Anthony Bowden wrote after the event [as reported by NBC News]. “Verizon imposed these limitations despite being informed that throttling was actively impeding County Fire’s ability to provide crisis-response and essential emergency services.”
“Because it is being run for public safety rather than for profit, FirstNet doesn’t throttle traffic,” said Chief Johnson said. “Ever.”
FirstNet’s Congressional authorization runs out in 2027. First responders like Chief Johnson want Congress to start reauthorizing FirstNet now— and for good this time — so that the service does not lapse and leave public safety agencies stranded
“There’s about 8 million connections on FirstNet,” said Chief Johnson. “All of these police, fire, and EMS users have left other cellular and radio commercial levels of service to join FirstNet, which offers a higher public safety grade level of service. If FirstNet is not reauthorized, its governance, and contractual authority could disappear, forcing agencies back onto commercial networks. Do you want your family’s safety riding on that kind of service? I sure don’t, which is why I and over 30,000 agencies and its users want FirstNet to be reauthorized.”
What is the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN)?
The NPSBN is a national wireless broadband service dedicated to serving police, fire, and EMS communications. It was created after 9/11 to prevent communication failures during large-scale emergencies.
How is the NPSBN different from regular cellular networks?
The NPSBN offers priority and preemption service to first responders through Band 14, via FirstNet and AT&T. Regular cellular networks are unable to do this, no matter what they may claim.
Who operates the NPSBN and what is its connection to FirstNet?
The NPSBN is operated by the FirstNet Authority, which oversees the FirstNet network’s policies, coverage priorities, and reinvestment strategy
by John Paul Jones, David Fogerson, and Rob Patterson
Every member of the public safety community who’s ever stood in the chaos of an incident knows this truth: communications are our lifeline. We can have the best training and equipment in the world, but if communications fail, everything else can unravel. Command collapses. Coordination suffers. And people get hurt.
While each branch of the public safety community operates under different conditions and mandates, our collective mission depends on a communications foundation which performs when everything else fails. Each discipline faces unique operational priorities, and understanding those helps strengthen the whole.
Retired Nevada Emergency Manager and Homeland Security Chief David Fogerson brought three decades of fire service expertise to his role coordinating multi-agency emergency response across vast and challenging terrain. His efforts in negotiating cooperative wildfire protection agreements and fostering cross-jurisdictional collaboration have strengthened Nevada’s public safety communication infrastructure.
“Emergency managers face a different challenge: the orchestration of multi-agency response and recovery across jurisdictions, often during total infrastructure collapse. Their priority is resilient interoperability ensuring that fire, EMS, law enforcement, utilities, and local government remain connected when cell towers are down and chaos reigns. This community relies on redundant, deployable communications to maintain situational awareness and sustain command continuity throughout prolonged incidents. When we can’t communicate in real-time, we can’t coordinate, and when we can’t coordinate, we can’t save lives.”
With over 30 years of dedicated service to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Robert Patterson rose to the position of Acting Administrator, guiding enforcement and intelligence operations for a global network of personnel and partners. His commitment to advancing technology and cross-agency collaboration strengthened the agency’s capacity to share critical information and coordinate national security efforts.
“Federal users require broad, secure, dependable coverage that spans the full geography of the nation, from dense urban centers to remote border zones and national forests. Whether coordinating investigative activities, disaster relief, or homeland security operations, coverage gaps aren’t mere inconveniences, they are potential mission failures. The expectation is clear: nationwide, persistent connectivity that supports continuity of government and critical communications under all conditions. The bar for public safety-grade cannot be lowered to commercial-grade with good intentions.”
John Paul Jones, Fire Chief-Emeritus and Executive Director of the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association, possesses over 34 years of distinguished leadership in fire service operations and communications. His pioneering work in regional homeland security coordination and the adoption of mobile-data communications has been instrumental in advancing interdisciplinary-inclusive-interoperability. Throughout his career, he has remained a dedicated advocate for technology innovation, operational excellence, and the mission readiness of the nation’s first responders.
“For the fire service, the lifeline isn’t just about coverage – it’s penetration. Firefighters operate in the worst environments for signal propagation: concrete, steel, and smoke-filled structures that can swallow high-frequency 5G signals. That’s why low-band spectrum like Band 14 is indispensable. It penetrates walls and basements, sustaining communications when visibility is zero and seconds matter most. In-building reliability isn’t a convenience for the fire service – it’s the difference between a mayday received and a mayday missed.”
For EMS, communication isn’t about chatter, it’s about data. Modern patient care depends on connected monitors, tablets, and ePCR systems transmitting telemetry to hospitals in real time. A certified, interoperable device ecosystem purpose-built and certified for interoperability ensures real-time telemetry, live video consultation, and uninterrupted access to patient data. In the field, technology that doesn’t integrate can delay care.
“The EMS mission depends on equipment that connects every link in the chain of survival, let’s make it clear, interoperability saves lives.” Chief Jones
For law enforcement, the priority is secure, real-time situational awareness. Officers require instant, encrypted data exchange between dispatch, field units, and regional partners including video, mapping, and intelligence feeds. Reliability isn’t just about response efficiency; it’s about officer safety. In moments of crisis, from pursuit to active threat, law enforcement depends on a cybersecure network that can handle encrypted data, live video, and mission applications without latency or failure.
“As leaders, protecting the well-being of those who serve on the front lines of the greater public safety community is our highest responsibility. Ensuring they have secure, real-time communication is essential, not just for operational success, but for safeguarding the lives of those who dedicate themselves to protecting others.” – Rob Patterson
While our operational priorities may differ—coverage for federal users, in-building reliability for fire, device interoperability for EMS, data security for law enforcement, and resilient coordination for emergency management—the truth is that each of these priorities strengthens the others. Reliable coverage supports interior operations. Strong penetration enables medical telemetry. Encrypted bandwidth empowers law enforcement and public safety intelligence. Deployable resilience sustains unified command. A unified device ecosystem ensures all of it works together when the stakes are highest.
Our individual needs are not just overlapping but interconnected. And when one discipline finds improvements, the entire public safety mission benefits. The goal isn’t separate solutions. It’s one resilient network serving every responder, every agency, every time.
Public safety communications demand more than commercial marketing of a consumer-grade product. They demand proof, performance, and accountability. FirstNet exists because this community and Congress recognized that commercial networks could not meet the operational requirements of first responders. It remains the only network with federally enforced, public safety-grade priority and preemption—and that distinction is more than bureaucratic; it’s lifesaving.
“FirstNet fulfills the promise, but success attracts noise.” – Rob Patterson
In recent years, a wave of commercial carriers has rushed into the “public safety” space, each claiming to offer the same reliability, speed, and priority we expect from purpose-built systems. Among them, T-Mobile has pushed its “public safety service” as an alternative for federal and local responders, a program that sounds promising until you take a closer look.
The challenge with commercial networks offering services for public safety is that they lack a dedicated plan, specific accountability measures, and oversight tailored to public safety needs where accountability truly matters.
In contrast, the FirstNet Promise, established by Congressional mandate and maintained under contractual oversight for more than a decade, has delivered proven broadband innovations transforming how fire services and other public safety agencies operate. Tools such as real-time video, tele-EMS, live mapping, and data analytics have become essential for incident commanders, setting FirstNet apart as the network built exclusively for public safety mission-critical communications.
T-Mobile advertises 98% population coverage primarily through its commercial 5G network infrastructure. On a marketing slide, that sounds impressive. But in public safety terms, “population coverage” isn’t what matters. Geographic coverage is. What is important to understand is T-Mobile’s offering to public safety relies on the 5G network, and more specifically on their 5G Wide Band capabilities. According to T-Mobile’s latest network updates, approximately 36% of their current nationwide footprint, measured by square miles, is covered by 5G wideband service. Our missions take us far from population centers, and that’s where we need reliability most—and it’s where commercial coverage maps fade to gray. Users operating in remote locations may encounter inconsistent service or coverage gaps, directly impacting mission-critical communications. Furthermore, the lack of dedicated spectrum and reliance on shared commercial spectrum means T-Mobile cannot guarantee priority access or preemption in congested or disaster scenarios outside urban core zones.
Even T-Mobile’s own disclosure admits: “Coverage is not available everywhere and may be impacted by location, environment, network congestion, and device capabilities.”
“A disclaimer might satisfy lawyers, but it doesn’t help a crew trying to transmit a mayday in the heat of battle. When we say ‘mission critical,’ there can’t be fine print. Commercial networks follow the population. FirstNet focuses on readiness and follows the danger. When the tones drop, our citizens won’t care about splitting the baby to satisfy commercial interests. They’ll care that we were connected, coordinated, and mission capable.” – Chief Jones
Not all spectrum is created equal. T-Mobile’s network relies largely on mid- and high-band 5G frequencies—great for speed, weak for penetration. Band 14, the federally licensed low-band spectrum that powers FirstNet, was built specifically for public safety. Its 700 MHz signal punches through walls, concrete, and terrain where higher frequencies fade out. When a firefighter keys a mic inside a structure, or a medic transmits ECG data from an ambulance bay, that low-band propagation can mean the difference between a message received—or lost.
Speed is irrelevant if the signal doesn’t reach you. That’s why Band 14 remains the operational standard for mission-critical broadband.
Public safety is a team sport. Every large-scale incident demands seamless cooperation between fire, EMS, law enforcement, and emergency management. T-Mobile’s public safety program leans on consumer-grade devices and commercial applications that “may vary by region” in interoperability. In other words: your gear might not talk to the agency next door. By contrast, the FirstNet certified ecosystem is designed and stress-tested for cross-agency operability. When multiple jurisdictions roll on a major incident, your devices must connect instantly—not “after an update.”
“The FirstNet Promise, mission-critical connectivity keeps command in control. They understand the operational reality: if your handset can’t talk across agencies, you’re not interoperable—you’re isolated.” – David Fogerson
“Network slicing” is the latest buzzword in broadband marketing. T-Mobile brands its version “T-Priority,” claiming it gives first responders higher access during congestion. But here’s the catch: it’s software-based, not federally mandated preemption. There’s no oversight, no enforceable guarantee, and no assurance of where your agency truly ranks in a crisis. T-Mobile’s own public statement reads: “Priority and preemption features are managed through network software and do not guarantee service availability in all conditions.” For public safety, that’s unacceptable. You can’t build mission assurance on marketing algorithms.
“Resilience isn’t an algorithm, it’s a discipline.” – Rob Patterson
T-Mobile Direct-to-Cell is a satellite-enabled service provided through a partnership with Starlink that allows unmodified LTE and 5G phones to connect directly to satellites when terrestrial cell towers are unavailable. The service operates on a narrowband (approximately 5 MHz) channel shared across a large satellite footprint, resulting in very low data throughput, comparable to kilobit speeds per user. While the technology represents an advance by offering basic messaging and location services without specialized equipment, its current capacity and performance are limited with voice and limited data capabilities planned for future rollout.
Coverage and connectivity rely heavily on a clear line of sight to the sky, making indoor and vehicular reception a challenge at best where the ability to use the service even exists. Thus, despite T-Mobile’s marketing claims suggesting “5G from space” and expansive coverage, this service should not be viewed as a substitute for terrestrial broadband or mission-critical communications as its practical use today is largely limited to basic texting and emergency messaging in areas without cellular coverage, not real-time voice or high-speed data applications.
Across the disciplines listed above, there is a common desire to protect some of the most sensitive information sets. A recent publication highlighted sensitive T-Mobile customer and government communications intercepted via unencrypted satellite backhaul links, exposing a broader vulnerability in rural networks relying on satellite transmission. Researchers showed that inexpensive equipment could eavesdrop on voice calls, texts, and metadata, revealing critical security gaps likely present in other carriers using outdated systems. This underscores the urgent need for comprehensive encryption across all network segments.
T-Mobile acknowledged the problem and stated it promptly encrypted the affected satellite links after notification, emphasizing the issue was limited to certain remote network paths. While one might take comfort in their ability to promptly fix the issue, coupled with the statement that “most traffic” remained secure and network safety was prioritized, the incident reveals a concerning oversight, as such basic security flaws should have been addressed proactively rather than discovered externally, highlighting the ongoing necessity for vigilance and rigorous security standards in evolving satellite and wireless networks.
T-Mobile heavily promotes its commercial recovery assets, which are not a dedicated, federally governed public safety fleet.
FirstNet maintains call centers dedicated to First Responders. These professionals understand their needs and can act fast to send the resources necessary.
Public Safety Leaders should ask tough questions:
Automation and AI rerouting may optimize consumer traffic, but real situational resilience requires redundancy and public safety grade oversight. Without dedicated, public safety-specific redundancies, automated systems can introduce single points of failure.
“Dedicated deployables keep first responders connected when infrastructure fails.” – Dave Fogerson
While T-Mobile’s public safety offering introduces concepts of innovative prioritization technology and support to a large commercial footprint, it is presently constrained by significant limitations in coverage, operability, device compatibility, and infrastructure resilience—particularly in rural and underserved areas, all of which are critical to public safety efforts. Extreme caution is advised for users who rely on comprehensive, robust, and vetted public safety communications to carefully consider these disclaimers and operational gaps before adopting T-Mobile, or any provider, as a public safety service.
The importance of continued congressional authorization of the FirstNet Authority cannot be overstated. FirstNet is the only nationwide, public safety-grade broadband network built specifically for the unique demands of first responders. It has proven itself as a financially self-sustaining, mission-critical resource that supports millions of connections and thousands of agencies across the country. Reauthorizing FirstNet ensures uninterrupted development, maintenance, and expansion of this indispensable network, safeguarding public safety communications into the future. Congress must act promptly to preserve this vital infrastructure that directly impacts lives and public safety every day.
