FirstNet Board Approves $218 Million for 5G, Deployables

to 5G and to expand the dedicated fleet of deployable assets.” 5G will mean improved data rates for first responders, said Neil Cox, chair of the Technology Committee. Low latency is especially important to emergency medical services users, he said. 5G also means access to more spectrum “which brings more and more capacity to improve the throughput,” he said. It will mean more devices, including biometric sensors, motion detectors and high-speed cameras for first responders, he said. Moving toward 5G “takes into account the technology advances that are happening today,” Cox said. “We’re learning new architectures and technologies and how to deploy 5G and as commercial providers worldwide begin to transition to 5G, it’s strategically important that we ensure that the FirstNet network is keeping pace,” he said. “First responders expect the network to evolve and progress with technology,” said Jeff Bratcher, FirstNet chief technology officer: “They did not want to be stranded on outdated networks.” He said FirstNet is also active on 5G standards development within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project. FirstNet is expanding the number of deployables beyond the 72 now available, said Executive Director Edward Parkinson. They have been used at natural disasters and preplanned events like the July Fourth celebration on the National Mall, he said.