The First Responders Network Authority board has set its budget for the coming fiscal year, which includes $94 million in network reinvestments.
The board approved a $253 million budget for fiscal year 2022, allocating $79.3 million for the authority’s operating budget, $79.3 million in operating reserves and $94 million for the FirstNet network, which shares Radio Access Network infrastructure with and is operated by AT&T, with a dedicated physical core for first responder traffic.
AT&T has a 25-year contract with the FirstNet Authority for the build-out and operation of network, and as part of the contract, the authority will be receiving about $18 billion in payments from AT&T over the 25-year term. An estimated $16 billion of that is expected to be reinvested in the network, as is required under the law which established FirstNet.
FirstNet Authority Board Chair Tip Osterthaler said in a statement that the newly approved budget “secures the organization’s ability to plan and invest in future capabilities and services that will continue to evolve the network.”
In the past year, the FirstNet board’s network reinvestments focused on laying the groundwork for FirstNet subscribers to use 5G services on AT&T’s network and expanding the available fleet of deployable assets that provide additional coverage or capacity during emergencies or planned events. According to the FirstNet board, first responders have made nearly 1,000 requests for FirstNet deployables since January 2020.
AT&T is currently providing FirstNet customers with 5G-capable handsets access to its millimeter wave-based 5G services in parts of 38 cities and in more than large venues around the U.S.; earlier this week, it announced that sub-6 GHz 5G would be available to FirstNet customers in an additional 10 U.S. cities. AT&T expects to offer mmWave 5G to FirstNet subscribers in parts of more than 40 ciites and 40 venues by the end of this year.
FirstNet customers won’t pay an additional charge for using 5G, AT&T said, but they do need a 5G device that can access the FirstNet network. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 5G both have the necessary capability and are in pre-order status currently.
FirstNet customers retain their network priority and preemption access on AT&T’s LTE spectrum, and if they have a 5G-capable FirstNet device, they can get additional speed via 5G. The carrier says that the network “determines the best route for data traffic, whether that’s 5G or LTE spectrum.”
