FirstNet Platform Offers First Responder Public Safety Agencies Free Smartphones, New Features

The US, and the rest of the world, continue to combat the spread of COVID-19(coronavirus), and the FirstNet communications platform, an IoT-ready national public-private partnership between the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) and AT&T, is bringing advanced capabilities to first responders across the country.

According to a recent announcement, first responder public safety agencies on FirstNet can get premium FirstNet Ready smartphone devices for free for their agency-paid users. In addition to public safety agencies having free smartphones for life, the partners said that first responders now have available access to the interactive COVID-19 dashboard created by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Agencies can view confirmed cases in relation to their jurisdiction and couple this insight with the FirstNet Esri-embedded network status map.

“First responders deserve a dedicated communications partner that can provide the tools they need, when they need them, and that’s exactly what they’re getting with FirstNet,” said Jason Porter, SVP, FirstNet Program at AT&T. “We are here working side-by-side with public safety and together we’ve made FirstNet nimble, adaptable and ready to scale for even the most severe situations as we’re seeing currently with COVID-19. Now, agencies spanning law enforcement, fire, EMS, healthcare, hospital emergency departments, emergency management and 911 operations can stay up-to-date with smartphones for life at no additional cost and know their responders’ devices are up to the task when the next emergency strikes.”