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12/19/2022|Networks & Platforms|Thought Leadership

Tech supporting those who save lives in 2023

By: Maggie Hallbach, Sowmyanarayan Sampath
Senior Vice President of Verizon Public Sector, President Verizon Frontline,

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5G Ultra Wideband (UW) will be a game-changer for first responders in 2023 and beyond. We’re living in an exciting period of technology innovation for first responders, and the higher-bandwidth and greatly improved speeds of 5G are expected to unlock some advanced applications and capabilities that will enable first responders to do their jobs more safely and efficiently.

We’re seeing more use cases where first responders require high-quality data feeds. Whether it’s communicating with central dispatch or using a drone for situational awareness during search and rescue operations, having a high-quality, high-bandwidth connection is absolutely critical to first responders’ ability to achieve their missions. This is why 5G is a priority for public safety agencies in 2023. In fact, we recently conducted a survey of nearly 2,000 first responders from across the nation and close to 80 percent identified 5G as a priority for their agency.

This survey also revealed that the use of drones, augmented and virtual reality training applications and connected vehicles are all trending up in the public safety community. First responders expect they will be using these technologies on a daily basis within the next five years, if not sooner. The daily use of drones is expected to rise by over 30 percent in the next 4 years alone.

All of this technology will be valuable to first responders if it is supported by fast and reliable connectivity, and that is what Verizon 5G UW delivers.

Whether it’s 3D mapping by drone during a search and rescue operation, near-real time video, or a virtual reality training application enabling firefighters to realistically simulate a fire or any other emergency first responders face, 5G UW will enable a number of advances in public safety technology.

About the author:

Maggie Hallbach is the Senior Vice President of Verizon Public Sector and President of Verizon Frontline, leading the team dedicated to partnering with Verizon’s federal, state, local, education and public safety customers to deliver innovative technology solutions and services. This includes Verizon Frontline, the advanced network built for first responders.

During her more than two decades at Verizon, Maggie has also served as Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Sales for Verizon Public Sector, Vice President of state, local and education markets for Verizon and in a number of other executive roles.

Sowmyanarayan Sampath (Sampath) is Chief Executive Officer for Verizon Consumer Group, serving the largest consumer customer base in the United States with over 101.6B in total revenue (2023). Sampath is a globally recognized leader in the telecom industry with experience spanning consumer, enterprise, security and critical infrastructure. His distinct tenure at Verizon includes transformative work on Verizon’s consumer operating model and empowering its customer-facing organization. Sampath is a proud father and enjoys spending his free time with his family.

Tags:
Executives, Emergency preparedness

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