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U.S. telco says network will be interoperable with AT&T’s FirstNet project.
Verizon on Wednesday confirmed that it intends to roll out an LTE-based public safety network analogous to AT&T’s FirstNet project but that will not require any public funding.
The U.S. telco said that the project will see it build out a private network core dedicated to public safety communications that will operate separately from its commercial network. It will make priority access available to the emergency services and will invest in related LTE-based voice services.
The company did not disclose how much it plans to spend on the network. However, it made it clear that the project "does not require access to any federal funding provided to FirstNet," nor does it need funding from the states.
"The creation of this dedicated public safety network core will be fully funded by Verizon," the telco said, in a statement.
Verizon was also quick to point out that its new network will not require states to opt out of FirstNet. It plans to make multi-band devices available that will provide access to band 14 spectrum and will be fully interoperable with any radio access networks deployed by FirstNet in that same band.
AT&T in March announced that it had won a 25-year contract to operate a nationwide broadband network for the emergency services. The operator will spend US$40 billion on the network and will receive $6.5 billion over five years from the federal government.
Last month AT&T named Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Virginia and Wyoming as the first five states to join the FirstNet network.
States and territories have until mid-December to make their decisions on participation in the project, the telco said.
