Making all the right plays to help public safety in Miami ahead of the Big Game

While all eyes are on pro football’s big championship game in Miami, members of the FirstNet team huddled with public safety agencies in Miami emergency operation centers this week to get ready.

Their single focus: Helping to ensure first responders stay connected.

Jason Porter, Senior Vice President – FirstNet program at AT&T, said supporting first responders before and during massive events like the Big Game is an example of what puts FirstNet a cut above the rest.  

“We’re honored to serve beside public safety every day,” said Jason Porter, Senior Vice President – FirstNet Program at AT&T.

To help keep fans safe at one of the year’s biggest sporting events, the FirstNet team at AT&T and the First Responder Network Authority worked hand-in-hand with dozens of public safety agencies. The advance work helps to ensure first responders have the coverage, capacity and capabilities they need to stay connected. This includes network priority and preemption.

AT&T has been working for more than a year – and invested more than $85 million – to boost our network through a series of both permanent and temporary upgrades in the city. All this is designed to help residents, first responders and fans stay connected wherever they are.

Helping public safety

Preparations to help ensure first responders have the coverage they need ahead of the Big Game, included:

• Deploying high-quality Band 14 spectrum across the area to provide optimal coverage and capacity for first responders. Band 14 is public safety’s VIP lane. In an emergency, it can be cleared and locked just for FirstNet subscribers, further elevating public safety’s connected experience and emergency response.
• Installing metro cells at numerous local and federal public safety agency centers. These enhancements provide agencies with a direct network connection to the critical information they need.
• Placing three FirstNet Satellite Cell on Light Trucks (SatCOLTs) outside of the stadium for extra redundancy and to provide additional coverage to first responders, as needed.
• Equipping first responders with FirstNet Ready® devices to help ensure they have communications across the highly secure FirstNet network core.

Plus, members of the FirstNet team will staff the public safety command posts to support local, state and federal agencies in the week leading up to and through the day of the Big Game. This will help ensure communication we meet public safety’s needs.  

FirstNet is the nationwide communications platform dedicated to America’s first responders and public safety community. It’s built with AT&T in public-private partnership with the FirstNet Authority. And it’s bringing public safety a much-needed technology upgrade to help them connect to the critical information they need – especially at large events like the Big Game.