From: fQRMgoldstein@ionary.com   
      
   On 3/31/2022 11:39 AM, Bill Horne wrote:   
   > ...   
   > Perhaps you will be able to make more sense out of it. My circuit   
   > breaker has tripped.   
   >   
   > Bill   
   >   
   > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
   >   
   > "An official website of the United States government"   
   >   
   > What's the news? AT&T is America's public safety communications   
   > partner. In the nearly 5 years since we were selected by the First   
   > Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) to build and operate   
   > FirstNet(r), we have moved quickly to bring more coverage, boost   
   > capacity and drive new capabilities for South Carolina first   
   > responders and the communities they serve - rural or urban.   
      
   I'm not exactly an uncritical fan of FirstNet, having been fairly   
   close to the process that created it, and having worked with real   
   public safety communications. There was a real mess in the 2005-2009   
   time frame, not worth recounting here, and it basically ended with   
   AT&T picking up the pieces. But the idea is not bad and it could be   
   useful.   
      
   FirstNet is a "broadband" public safety network intended to complement   
   the "narrowband" voice walkie-talkie systems that first responders   
   (police, fire, EMS) typically carry. It's basically a 700 MHz LTE   
   network, where the 700 MHz band has good indoor and cluttered-area   
   coverage. The idea is that AT&T gets to use the spectrum for   
   commercial (cellular) customers, but reserves and prioritizes its use   
   for first responders when they need it. FirstNet's customers, the   
   first responders, pay for the service, which allows them to download   
   images and video, which could help them in their front line work.   
      
   Not all first responders buy into this; real-world police in many   
   places, for instance, carry ordinary smartphones, which generally work   
   fine. But in some places where cell coverage is spotty, FirstNet gives   
   AT&T an incentive to build out, and it gives local governments an   
   incentive to permit the necessary towers to be built. Whether that's   
   good or bad is a matter of perspective...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)