Update on February 22 Network Outage

On February 22, 2024, our network partner, AT&T, experienced a broad outage that impacted public safety users of FirstNet. Based on initial reviews, the network outage occurred in the early hours of the morning on Thursday. The FirstNet network was restored by around 5:00 a.m. CST — about 3 hours since service was initially affected for some FirstNet subscribers across the country. AT&T says the outage was due to the application and execution of an incorrect process used while expanding its network; AT&T stated it was not the result of a cyberattack. As the network operator for FirstNet, AT&T took immediate action to prioritize the restoration of public safety services. The FirstNet Authority recognizes that AT&T put public safety first during the outage. Resilience is crucial in the face of adversity, and AT&T stepped up and prioritized the restoration of FirstNet. We are committed to identifying the circumstances that led to the outage and working with AT&T to implement strategies and corrective actions to help prevent FirstNet from experiencing an outage like this in the future. I am meeting with AT&T leaders to discuss this outage in depth. Further, I have established a FirstNet Authority After-Action Task Force comprised of public safety, technical, and emergency management experts from our team. The task force will help us strengthen our preparedness and emergency communications processes, so that in the event of any future outages the FirstNet Authority, together with AT&T, can understand the impact faster and surge to communicate with the public safety community.