Emergencies can occur anywhere, anytime – in the biggest cities and the smallest towns. In North Carolina, where so many of us live in small towns and communities rather than in big cities, it’s important that all our communities are ready to respond.
That’s why FirstNet, the nation’s first broadband communications network, is designed to serve every first responder in the country – career or volunteer; federal, tribal, state or local; urban, suburban or rural.
In deploying FirstNet, we’re utilizing all AT&T LTE bands and public safety’s Band 14 spectrum, which is the nationwide, high-quality spectrum set aside by the government specifically for FirstNet. Currently, FirstNet covers more than 2.61 million square miles of the country. In 2019 alone, we added more than 120,000 square miles of LTE coverage, which is roughly the size of New Mexico.
So far, Band 14 has been deployed on existing cell sites in more than 700 markets nationwide, including the following in North Carolina:
- Asheville
- Burlington
- Cabarrus
- Camden
- Charlotte
- Chatham
- Fayetteville
- Greene
- Greensboro
- Harnett
- Henderson
- Hickory
- Hoke
- Jacksonville
- Northampton
- Raleigh-Durham
- Rockingham
- Sampson
- Wilmington
We are also building new FirstNet tower sites and have launched over 250 nationwide, particularly in rural locations that were identified as a coverage priority by public safety stakeholders. In North Carolina, we have brought new towers online in the following communities:
- Belhaven
- Sparta
- Todd
- Crumpler
- Eure
- Murfreesboro
- Swanquarter
- Littleton
- Rich Square
- Ahoskie
- Shelby
- Warrenton
By rolling out Band 14 spectrum and launching purpose-built FirstNet sites, we continue to extend the reach of FirstNet across the state.
For more information about what we are doing to give more first responders and the communities they serve access to the critical communications capabilities they need, click https://about.att.com/innovationblog/2020/05/fn_rural_connectivity.html
