On the front lines of an emergency, first responders need to know the mission-critical technology they carry in their hands, on their belts and in their vehicles is reliable—lives depend on it. The technology your agency uses can affect your ability to respond to a crisis. We built Verizon Frontline to parter with first responders and to help them stay connected in routine and extreme conditions.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the Verizon Frontline public safety network. Often, there’s a mix of facts, opinions and confusing claims. We want to address some of the most common questions and provide answers you can count on.
Verizon Frontline is the advanced network and technology for first responders. For more than 30 years, Verizon has partnered with the public safety community to deliver secure, reliable and mission-critical communication solutions. Through this trusted partnership, we provide first responders with an award-winning network, enabled with priority and preemption; a dedicated crisis response team; an innovation program; and best-in-class, 24/7 customer support.
Verizon Frontline is available to public safety organizations, first responders and a highly select group of specialists. In specific spaces like medical and critical infrastructures. It helps them achieve their missions during times of crisis. Eligibility is based on those who need it most during emergencies and critical situations—because if too many people have priority access, then no one really does. Verizon Frontline was built from the ground up to meet the unique and evolving needs of first responders and the public safety community. Those needs and responsibilities continue to evolve, and we have remained committed to working closely with the public safety community to understand and meet these ever-changing requirements.
To partner with Verizon Frontline, visit our Contact Sales page. The process typically includes verifying eligibility, discussing your organization’s needs, and selecting the appropriate plan and devices.
Band 14 is a 20 MHz slice of radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band. Congress allocated Band 14 to public safety and authorized FirstNet to use it to support its deployment of a nationwide public-safety broadband network.
Verizon Frontline has priority services that give access to public safety first and preemption capabilities to help ensure first responders stay prioritized during critical situations.1 Verizon’s 4G LTE network uses Band 13 along with the reliability of Verizon’s 5G network. Bands 13 and 14 are adjacent in the 700 MHz band and have the same favorable technical characteristics that support wireless broadband communications.
In practice, Band 14 is not used exclusively for public safety.2 Verizon also does not use Band 13 for first responders alone. That means user experiences will vary depending on the carrier and the network that carrier has built. For instance, to enhance the capacity and experience provided by Band 13, Verizon has built out its 4G LTE network with advanced technologies that allow the same band of spectrum to carry large amounts of traffic efficiently.
Bottom line: When evaluating support for public safety communications, it’s important to focus on the network as a whole—and whether that network prioritizes first responders.
First responder agencies have a choice when picking a mobile network. Verizon Frontline’s mission is to partner with public safety organizations and provide first responders with reliable solutions to help keep them connected in extreme and routine situations. Along with 100% battery backup for macro-cell sites to keep you connected and a dedicated support staff available 24/7, 365 days a year, Verizon Frontline is a trusted partnership with clear priorities.
We deliver choice, innovation and a reliable, highly secure option for first responder organizations. Verizon Frontline is the #1 network choice in public safety.3
No. With network interoperability, public safety data will be able to travel across multiple bands of spectrum. Verizon supports network, system, application and device interoperability across all participating commercial carriers and agencies.
Interoperability is crucial to the safety of first responders and the organizations that support them, no matter what network, apps or devices they use. We are continually enhancing our network and capabilities to meet the mission of enabling voice and data interoperability across agencies, jurisdictions, devices and networks.
Verizon does more than support intercarrier and interagency interoperability; our network is built to be interoperable and adhere to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standards.
Not necessarily. Network security is a top concern for network providers, and it’s up to each provider to build in security measures that help protect your voice and data communications. For example, private network service isolates your data from all other traffic so no unauthorized traffic can travel over the network. This eliminates the risks of unsolicited traffic from the internet, helping ensure greater security and better performance.
The right professional services teams, when backed by years of security experience, help our customers identify and resolve security risks within their network infrastructures.
True end-to-end data security is critical. Application-layer traffic encryption provides the source-to-destination security while the benefit of network-layer encryption provides for secure transport. Where varying network transit paths exist and lack network-layer encryption, then the application-layer encryption continues to provide security.
As a recognized leader in network and security services, Verizon offers a comprehensive security assessment that evaluates all aspects of an organization’s security controls. Verizon conducts in-depth research to understand the threats against specific industries and specific technologies. Our expertise and insight give first responders a head start on optimizing their security programs.
Preemption helps keep first responders connected in emergency situations. In those rare times when the network is fully utilized, preemption automatically activates to provide first responder personnel with priority access to the network. It helps ensure that our public safety customers can continue to communicate with each other and achieve their missions, even in times of high network use.
Verizon Frontline is built on an adaptive, intelligent platform that prioritizes first responders. This helps ensure that those on the front lines get the information they need when it matters most, automatically preempting non-mission-critical actions.
Verizon is at the forefront of emergency response technology with the Verizon Frontline Innovation Program. A catalyst for innovative public safety solutions, this program works alongside first responders to understand their needs and sources leading technology solutions from the global entrepreneurial community. We’ve developed wireless network solutions through the Verizon Frontline Innovation Program, including THOR—our Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response 5G emergency mobile command center. This is just one of the many dynamic innovations we’ve explored to leverage the full power of our 5G network. These advances help expand coverage and provide network continuity following a disaster. And we’ll continue to provide open and nonproprietary services, which helps your first responders communicate with other responders and your agency collaborate with other agencies.
Partnering with first responders and forward-thinking companies allows us to develop cutting-edge and first-oftheir-kind solutions to support the changing needs of public safety. This helps improve execution for every stage of a mission as well as crisis response preparedness. It also helps transform emergency management.
Yes. The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team includes multidisciplinary professionals with over 250 years of combined service in the military, public safety and advanced technology. They partner with public safety agencies to provide coordinated action and support during trainings as well as natural disasters and emergencies—to Verizon and non-Verizon customers. We’ve strategically placed deployable network assets, including our mobile command centers, that are ready to deploy during planned special events as well as during natural disasters and other emergencies.
From mission preparedness to crisis response, through mitigation and recovery, we adapt to the emerging needs of the front lines, helping ensure first responders have the speed, coverage and security they need during critical situations.
Network virtualization enables Verizon to make updates and upgrades quickly, without slowing down your frontline workers. We believe that with network virtualization, Verizon Frontline can make upgrades seamlessly so hardware upgrades don’t slow down frontline workers. We believe that investing in advanced technologies, such as priority, preemption and exceptional quality of service (QoS), will provide the greatest long-term benefits to our customers.
On the front lines, every detail is critical and every second counts. That’s why Verizon Frontline is built for 5G. The transformative speeds and reliability of 5G can help public safety agencies improve decision-making and deliver more accurate information to the front lines faster. 5G networks are also more adaptive, which is important in mission-critical responses.
When lives are at stake, first responders need a network they can rely on—one that truly prioritizes them and helps them stay connected in both routine and extreme situations. We designed it for 5G so you can take advantage of the next wave of public safety innovations. In making your choice, consider these facts:
For more information about Verizon Frontline, contact your Verizon Frontline Account Representative or visit verizon.com/frontline.
The following two recent research reports from Verizon can help you better understand why we’re a leader in security—and how we can help your agency improve your security program.
1 Mobile Broadband Priority allows customers to connect to the network with priority by leveraging a pool of radio resources dedicated to enable their connection. Mobile Broadband Priority identifies the user with an Access Priority setting, giving them higher priority for network access than lower Access Class users. Preemption automatically activates to provide approved personnel uninterrupted access to the network in those uncommon times when the network is fully utilized. 911 calls are never preempted.
2 “Public-Safety Broadband Network: Congressional Action Required to Ensure Network Continuity,” U.S. Government Accountability Office, February 2022. https://www.gao.gov/assets/d22104915.pdf
3 Based on quarterly third-party wireless voice market-share data, Q4 2024
4 Ibid.
5 Based on RootMetrics® State of 5G Report, United States, 2H 2024. Tested with best commercially available smartphones on three national mobile networks across all available network types. Your experiences may vary. RootMetrics rankings are not an endorsement of Verizon.
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