Lawmakers hear FirstNet briefing, state public-safety radio coverage gaps exposed

Montpelier — On Jan. 30, the Vermont House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee heard a technical briefing on FirstNet and the state’s public-safety radio systems from Corey Chase, director of Radio Technology Services at the Vermont Department of Public Safety, and representatives from AT&T.

The presentation outlined how Vermont’s land mobile radio (LMR) network — a 40-site system the state operates and maintains for state agencies and many local first responders — works alongside commercial mobile services and FirstNet, a federally-created public-safety broadband program delivered nationwide through a public-private partnership with AT&T. Chase told the committee the state maintains more than 40 tower sites and a private microwave backbone that keeps dispatch and radio communications running independently of the public cellular networks.

Chase said the state’s LMR systems remain the primary tool for voice communications among first responders because they provide “one-to-many” push-to-talk capability and resilient coverage in many areas: “We have 40 tower sites around the state that we maintain,” he said. The division also operates interoperability channels (VCOM) used to talk across jurisdictions and the telephone service for Department of Public Safety dispatch centers.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed officials on gaps in commercial and FirstNet coverage across Vermont’s hilly, rural territory and on what leverage the state has to get more cellular buildout in critical corridors. Officials said that a statewide drive-test led by the Public Service Department shows many roads and pockets with unreliable FirstNet voice service, and that FirstNet/AT&T has already built 35 towers…