City clerk says Duval will migrate municipal phones to FirstNet for public‑safety reliability and cost savings

At the July 1 meeting, City Clerk John Badera briefed the Duval City Council on the planned migration of city mobile devices from Verizon to FirstNet, a nationwide public‑safety broadband service built through a public‑private partnership.

Badera explained FirstNet is designed to reduce congestion during major incidents by operating on different spectrum and providing prioritized capacity to public‑safety users. He described administrative benefits such as an improved mobile device manager for remote wiping and device control and said the city expects roughly $20,000 in annual savings compared with the current Verizon plan.

Badera outlined the implementation process: staff and FirstNet technicians will port numbers and configure devices; employees will drop off phones for migration and typically be able to pick them up an hour or two later. He said some contingency planning is in place for service disruption during the two‑day rollout window. “One of the reasons we are switching is just to have a dedicated wireless network… so calls don't get jammed,” Badera said.

Mayor Amy Ochterlander and council members who spoke thanked the clerk and emergency management staff, describing the change as a public‑safety improvement; the mayor noted prior incidents when cellular congestion complicated emergency communications. The council did not take a separate formal vote in the meeting; staff will proceed with the planned implementation and provide instructions to affected employees by email.