During a second-quarter earnings call July 23, AT&T executives said the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted some aspects of the business but said First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) momentum remains strong.

TCCA and the Global Certification Forum (GCF) formed a new group to continue work on the development of mission-critical certification for broadband equipment. The group plans to begin certifying mission-critical devices with pre-integrated MCX client apps in the first phase.

Next-generation 9-1-1 (NG 9-1-1) went live May 20 in Elko County, Nevada and May 22 in West Wendover, Nevada. The public-safety answering points (PSAPs) cut over for the sixth-largest county in the nation with a population traversing 17,000 square miles to the new cloud-based NG 9-1-1 emergency service IP network (ESInet) and call processing equipment (CPE) solution marks the first of its kind.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) highlighted more coverage buildouts, noting the network already covers more than 99% of the U.S. population. In areas where coverage already exists, band 14 spectrum is providing more capacity. Band 14 has been deployed on existing cell sites in more than 700 markets nationwide.

Verizon announced a successful test of its Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) technology, which executives said will help the carrier more quickly deploy 5G coverage across its network and provide 5G coverage to public safety through deployables. Additionally, Verizon announced the five companies participating in the next cohort of its 5G First Responder Lab.

Airbus was selected to provide Jinan airport in China with mission-critical products and solutions to upgrade the existing Airbus TETRA network in place. The new system will allow airport personnel to embrace the benefits of a hybrid solution using TETRA and LTE technologies.

Accenture and AT&T are working with Phillips 66 to develop industrial cellular wireless connectivity with the development of a private cellular network solution for potential future 5G use cases, including support for industrial internet of things (IIoT) and low-latency applications.

Three U.S. Department of Commerce agencies announced the awardee of the $2 million Accelerate R2 Network (R2 Network) Challenge. The R2 Network Challenge connects stakeholders in the response and resilience (R2) industries, accelerating the speed at which startups and other organizations can bring innovations to the public-safety market.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) and state officials announced a spate of coverage enhancements to the public-safety broadband network in the Northeast. Maryland, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Hampshire all made FirstNet coverage-related announcements this week.

A field equipment shelter fitted with fault-tolerant cooling is ensuring the reliability of a wireless communications link that connects the instrumentation on a new gas pipeline crossing a Middle Eastern desert to the remote control room. Fabricated from tough glassfiber-reinforced polyester (GRP) materials, the shelter houses a TETRA base station powered by solar panels to function reliably in an off-grid location some 50 kilometers from the nearest town.