Verizon Frontline has deployed and activated more than 950 5G Ultra Wideband-enabled smartphones, the company announced this week.
The phones are part of a critical communications upgrade for the Tampa Police Department, supporting the Department’s “Connected Officer” initiative. The initiative is designed to help ensure every officer on patrol has a smartphone with key law enforcement applications.
According to Verizon Frontline, providing police officers with city-issued phones keeps them from having to use their personal devices for official business, helping enhance efficiency and information security.
The Verizon Frontline partnership with the city of Tampa comes as Verizon upgrades its network across Florida. The upgrades include hardening of fiber backhaul to withstand extreme weather conditions; investing in generators, HVAC, and battery replacements help keep the network in service; and adding three Emergency Operation Centers across the state to support network restoration.
Verizon also recently launched its new Community Disaster Resilience Initiative in Tampa. The initiative aims to help communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters with confidence, partnering with local United Way and Habitat for Humanity affiliates.
“Our work with the Tampa Police Department represents our long-standing commitment to ensuring our nation’s first responders have the advanced network and solutions they need as they work tirelessly to protect and serve our communities,” said Verizon Public Sector Senior Director Jessica Roth in a prepared statement about the Verizon Frontline deployment of phones across Tampa.
Earlier this year, Verizon launched the Verizon Frontline Network Slice in select markets nationwide for first responders.
The Verizon Frontline Network Slice is a 5G Ultra Wideband (UW) virtual network slice completely dedicated to public safety that allows for the allocation of network resources within Verizon’s network infrastructure. This helps provide first responders several key advantages including (but not limited to):
- Dedicated 5G UW network capacity reserved exclusively for first responders.
- Tailored performance for critical applications and devices to help ensure data traffic is optimized for the operational needs of first responders.
- Enhanced reliability
- Flexible scalability
