Verizon's Competing With AT&T/FirstNet Follows Long-Anticipated Course

it's reacting to requests from its millions of public safety clients. Early on, Verizon was widely seen as a likely contender for the FirstNet contract, in part because FirstNet’s Band 14 spectrum fits well with spectrum the carrier has in its portfolio. Industry officials said in 2016 that Verizon instead could opt to compete with FirstNet by offering its services to local governments without the requirements the carrier would face as a partner to the network (see 1601220053), the course it's now adopting. “The dedicated public safety core will operate separately from our commercial core and provide first responders with access to the company's 2.4 million square mile 4G LTE network,” Verizon said: It will “make priority access and preemption services available to public safety when necessary and at no charge.” Verizon emphasized the service will be a competitor to FirstNet, not a replacement. The offering “does not require that states opt-out of FirstNet, does not require access to any federal funding provided to FirstNet, and does not require any financial commitment from states to support network deployment,” Verizon said. “Creation of this dedicated public safety network core will be fully funded by Verizon. We will also make available multi-band devices that will provide access to Band 14 spectrum and enable full interoperability with any Band 14 radio access networks (RANs) deployed by FirstNet.” FirstNet "has consulted closely with public safety as a partner to develop this network,” a FirstNet spokesman said. “Thanks to their input, we are now delivering first responders a compelling network solution they’ve never had before -- which includes true priority today -- and we will deliver them ruthless preemption, a dedicated and encrypted public safety core network with local control capabilities, a dedicated FirstNet Public Safety Security Operations Center and public safety grade customer care. These services are unmatched and unique to public safety, and that is why we are seeing so much momentum with the FirstNet Network in the states and territories.” AT&T also fired back. “What we’re offering to public safety through our private-public partnership will exceed anything they’ve previously been offered in the marketplace," a spokesman said. "FirstNet is bringing public safety a superior network and ecosystem with specialized features, including increased coverage and capacity along with priority and preemption, so first responder subscribers can be confident that the network will be there when and where they need it.”