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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 4 / Thursday, January 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations many public safety entities have access to and make use of dedicated public safety-specific and/or prioritized, specialized enterprise-level broadband services for data communications between public safety officials. Perhaps the most important example of a dedicated network is the Congressionally-created First Responder Network Authority FirstNet. In 2012, Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, which in part directed the establishment of a nationwide, interoperable public safety network to ensure the deployment and operation of a nationwide, broadband network for public safety communicationsa resilient network capable of supporting both data and voice communications. The law granted 20 megahertz of spectrum to be used for the network and allocated $7 billion of funding. FirstNet is explicitly designed for fast, prioritized public safety communications. FirstNet offers service priority and preemption, which allow first responders to communicate over an always-on network. Public safety entities using FirstNet can boost their priority levels during emergency situations to ensure first responder teams stay connected even when networks are congested. AT&T describes preemption as an enhanced form of priority service because it shifts nonemergency traffic to another line, which ensures national security and emergency preparedness users communications are successfully completed. According to AT&T, priority and preemption support voice calls, text messages, images, videos, location information, and data from apps . . .
in real time. In the first half of 2019, the monthly numbers of device connections to FirstNet outperformed expectations at approximately 196% of projected targets. In May 2019, a majority of agencies and nearly 50% of FirstNets total connections were new subscribers not AT&T migrations. As of August 2019, FirstNet was deployed in all 50 states, and nearly 9,000 public safety agencies and organizations were subscribers of the network. The number of public safety agencies subscribing to FirstNet services continues to increase.
Recent data suggests that more than 12,000 public safety agencies and organizationsaccounting for over 1.3
million connections nationwide subscribe to FirstNet services. These trends suggest that first responders recognize the benefits of prioritization, preemption, and other innovative features that enhance public safety communications. The record reflects that more and more, public safety is
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relying on the FirstNet core and public safetys own dedicated network for critical public safety communications one that offers faster performance than commercial networks. The Spectrum Act requires FirstNet to apply for renewal of its license after 10 years i.e., in 2022. The Act states that to obtain renewal, FirstNet must demonstrate that during the preceding license term, the First Responder Network Authority has met the duties and obligations set forth under the Spectrum Act.
14. As we observed previously, other service providers have recently begun offering or enhanced their public safety services to compete with FirstNet. For example, Verizon offers services designed for first responders and public safety entities through its public safety private core that include the ability to prioritize public safety communications to ensure that they stay connected during emergencies. Such services also provide an extra layer of assurance that public safety communications will continue to operate during peak times.
In addition, public safety users have access to several . . . enhanced services from Verizon, including Mobile Broadband Priority Service and data preemption. These services provide public safety users priority service for data transmissions by giving users priority over commercial users during periods of heavy network congestion and reallocating network resources from commercial data/internet users to first responders if networks reach full capacity.
15. Similarly, U.S. Cellular offers enhanced data priority services for first responders and other emergency response teams. The company uses a dedicated broadband LTE network that separates mission-critical data from commercial and consumer traffic, ensuring that national security and emergency preparedness personnel have access to vital services during emergency situations. In addition to prioritizing network access, U.S.
Cellular uses preemption to automatically and temporarily reallocate lower priority network resources to emergency responders so they can stay connected during emergencies or other high-traffic events. T-Mobile also launched a specialized set of rate plans for first responder organizations in early 2019, aimed at addressing these organizations needs that their highspeed data allowance not run out or be slowed during emergencies. These dedicated or specialized types of service plans allow first responder organizations to receive unlimited smartphone or hotspot data that receives high priority on the network at all times.

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T-Mobile is also expanding these efforts by offering Connecting Heroes, a program launching later this year to provide a version of this service for free to U.S. state and local public and nonprofit law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services EMS
agencies.
16. Though many communications between public safety entities increasingly take advantage of these enterprise-level dedicated public safety broadband services, the record reflects that public safety entities employ broadband internet access services for their communications between public safety officials as well. As the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International, Inc. APCO explains, public safety agencies rely on retail broadband services for a variety of public safety applications, including for example, accessing various databases, sharing data with emergency responders, translating communications with 911
callers and patients in the field, streaming video into 911 and emergency operations centers, and accessing critical information about a 911 caller that is not delivered through the traditional 911 network.
17. While this proceeding focuses on a specific data servicebroadband internet access servicewe note that the universe of public safety to public safety communications extends beyond this particular service. The enterprise services described above often provide a viable alternative for states and localities to purchase dedicated broadband connections to use for public safety communications. In addition, voice services continue to play an important role. The Commission has historically supported these efforts through the establishment of three priority services programs that support prioritized voice services for public safety users. The Telecommunications Services Priority System TSP
authorizes the assignment and approval of priorities for provisioning and restoration of common-carrier provided telecommunication services and services which are provided by government and/or non-common carriers and are interconnected to common carrier services. The Government Emergency Telecommunications Service GETS
provides government officials, first responders, and NSEP personnel with priority access and prioritized processing in the local and long distance segments of the landline networks, greatly increasing the probability of call completion. And, the Wireless Priority Service program
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