At AT&T, we recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first phone call. While much has changed since then, one thing has been constant: A strong commitment to the communities we serve, including our more rural communities across Pennsylvania.

In February, we joined leaders in Athens, Tioga County to announce that we’ve enhanced our wireless network across Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains region, adding new sites and upgrading existing ones, to enable the area’s residents and businesses, as well as public safety on FirstNet®, Built with AT&T to get the most out of their mobile devices.

Our team participated in a special announcement highlighting fleet upgrades at the Endless Mountains Transportation Authority, or BeST Transit.

Thanks, in part, to these network investments, BeST Transit, which serves residents across Bradford, Sullivan, and Tioga Counties and supports public safety during emergencies, recently upgraded its connectivity with new, push-to-talk devices for their vehicles and FirstNet MegaRange, which provides the strongest signal available in the U.S.¹, allowing the vehicles at the edge of the network to connect cameras and other devices to ensure passenger safety.

As a key part of the extended public safety community, BeST is part of the counties’ emergency response plans to support evacuations from settings like hospitals and nursing homes during emergencies and large-scale disasters. Other members of the extended community include industries like public works, utilities, transportation, hospitals, schools, and essential government services, which can be called upon to support first responders in case of emergency.

Mark Hamilton, executive director, BeST Transit/EMTA, hosted the event. He said their transportation district covers 2,750 square miles in mountainous, rural, Pennsylvania, where radio communication has always been an extreme challenge. Thanks to their work with FirstNet, for the first time ever, they now have crystal-clear communication in 99 percent of the areas their vehicles travel, plus mobile Wi-Fi for all digital devices to transmit crucial data back to home base. He said this has significantly improved the safety of their passengers and drivers and has also boosted staff morale tremendously.

We’re expanding and enhancing our network across Pennsylvania to give our customers the best possible experience. These new sites, combined with our other network improvements, will better connect first responders on FirstNet and keep BeST moving through the Endless Mountains.

Since 2020, AT&T turned on new sites in the following areas: Tioga, Hoytville, Mansfield, Knoxville, Wellsboro Junction, Manhattan, Middlebury Center, Ansonia, Asaph, Little Marsh, Roaring Branch and Elkland in Tioga County; Ricketts Glen in Sullivan County; and Pisgah, Sugar Run, Sheshequin and Tuscarora in Bradford County. The company also upgraded existing sites across the region, boosting 5G speeds and adding network capacity.

These new sites support first responders and the extended public safety community on FirstNet, America’s public safety network. These new sites include Band 14 spectrum, which is nationwide, high-quality spectrum set aside by the government specifically for FirstNet. We look at Band 14 as public safety’s VIP lane, delivering dedicated connectivity when needed. When not in use by FirstNet subscribers, AT&T customers can enjoy Band 14’s added coverage and capacity.

We appreciated the opportunity to join local leaders from across the region.

Learn more about how AT&T is supporting Pennsylvania here. For more about the value FirstNet is bringing to public safety, visit FirstNet.com.