FirstNet launches Vermont cell sites

FirstNet, the broadband platform for public safety, has launched a pair of Vermont purpose-built cell sites in North Bennington and West Bridgewater.

“We worked hand-in-hand with Vermont’s public safety community to understand their needs for the network,” FirstNet Authority CEO Edward Parkinson said. “And these cell sites are a prime example of how that input and feedback is becoming reality. We look forward to supporting Vermont’s first responders’ use of FirstNet to help them save lives and protect communities.”

The sites were identified by state and public safety stakeholders as priority locations. FirstNet seeks to aid first responders with connectivity needs.

The FirstNet system is built with AT&T in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority), with authorities noting FirstNet is the only nationwide platform providing first responders a communication ecosystem of benefits including mission-centric devices, certified applications and always-on, 24-hours-a-day priority and preemption across voice and data.

Sites are constructed using the Band 14 spectrum, a nationwide, high-quality spectrum set aside by the government specifically for FirstNet, as well as AT&T commercial spectrum bands. Band 14 is considered public safety’s VIP lane, officials said, adding in an emergency the band, or lane, can be cleared and locked just for FirstNet subscribers. Band 14 has also been added to existing sites across Vermont.