The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) strongly supports Public Law 112-96 (02/22/12) that sets forth the requirements for having one Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN). THE NPSBN is what public safety advocated for from the beginning of discussions within the community, starting around 2006, and what Congress mandated – a single nationwide network.

NPSTC developed a public safety statement of requirements document in 2007 and a high-level broadband requirements document in 2012. Since then, NPSTC has developed many specific requirements documents to support the broadband for public safety implementation process, which were all approved by NPSTC's 16 public safety member organizations. When the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) was formed, state and local public safety provided proposed specifications through a multi-year state consultation and RFP process. Public safety did, and will continue, to have input to FirstNet.

FirstNet has a physically separate, redundant, and dedicated core – it is NOT a virtual core as part of a commercial network. This supports the SAFECOM public safety communications continuum, which encourages one platform for the highest level of interoperability. One public safety core, the FirstNet core, also takes us away from decades of systems that cannot inter-operate for multi-jurisdictional responses. The FirstNet Authority has committed to provide an Applications Catalog that ensures that applications are tested and certified; to provide dedicated security monitoring of the network 24/7/365; dedicated customer support personnel 24/7/365; public safety dedicated disaster recovery resources and response coordination; a dedicated lab run by the FirstNet Authority that tests and validates the performance of the network, devices, and the applications ecosystem; and a sustainable financial model that guarantees reinvestment in public safety's network.

FirstNet is the only network with Band Class 14 spectrum that is dedicated to public safety. FirstNet also has an oversight organization in the FirstNet Authority that not only ensures that AT&T delivers on its commitments, but also advocates for public safety. Both are unique to FirstNet.