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Northview approves switch of police mobile service to FirstNet in consent package
Summary
At a Nov. 17 joint work session, the Northview City Council approved a consent-calendar item to migrate police mobile service to FirstNet (AT&T-built), citing a roughly 15% expected monthly savings and equipment upgrades including 12 new tablets for officers.
The Northview City Council approved, as part of its consent calendar on Nov. 17, a transition of municipal cellular service to FirstNet, a nationwide public-safety broadband network built by AT&T, for the police department.
Unidentified city staff told the council the transition covers 21 phones and 16 mobile routers used in patrol vehicles and includes the purchase of 12 tablets to replace aging devices. Staff said there are no early-termination fees or long-term contracts reported in the presentation and that AT&T will provide trade-in credit for existing phones. The presentation estimated the city will save about 15% in monthly service costs and that the remaining city staff devices will transition in the following months.
Councilors asked clarifying questions about device reuse, lighting and device compatibility. Staff said the existing tablets are not Windows 11 compatible and likely cannot be reused; the new tablets were described as required replacements. The council approved the consent calendar motion that included the FirstNet item by voice vote.
The council did not specify the vendor contract language in the meeting record; staff said trade-in credits would reduce the up-front cost but did not provide a final net purchase figure during the discussion. The motion carried with no recorded opposing votes.
Next steps: staff will complete the administrative transition and deploy the new devices for the police department before broader staff migration.
