Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) signed a letter this week, accepting the plan laid out by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and AT&T to build a wireless public safety broadband network throughout Virginia, making it the first state in the country to do so.
As part of the agreement, FirstNet and AT&T will build, operate, and provide needed maintenance for a secure wireless broadband network for use by firefighters, police, public safety personnel and associated first responders during emergency situations. The network’s development will be at no cost to the state of Virginia for the next 25 years.
“I am proud that Virginia is the first state in the nation to opt in to this program that will help our first responders communicate during times of emergency,” McAuliffe said. “While this is only the beginning of the process, I look forward to the continued coordinated efforts among Virginia, FirstNet, and AT&T to provide public safety officials with innovative new technologies that will help them keep Virginians safe.”
Once the network is fully implemented, it will allow for Virginia first responders to obtain immediate access to voice and data across the existing AT&T long-term evolution (LTE) network.
The secure channel will enable public safety personnel to communicate during situations of terrorism, such as the recent shootings in Alexandria, and during natural disaster-type events without the interference typically seen in times of heavy network traffic from the public.
“Public safety has spent years advocating for a nationwide network following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and today, Governor McAuliffe is helping to answer that call by joining the FirstNet network,” FirstNet CEO Mike Poth said. “FirstNet will put modern technologies that citizens use every day, like smartphones and apps, into the hands of Virginia’s first responders, helping them help save lives and protect residents while creating a single, interoperable system across the Commonwealth and across the country.”