Verizon Wins Public-Safety Contract in Massachusetts

U.S. operator Verizon said that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has authorized it to offer public safety via the state’s public-safety-grade wireless agreement. Verizon services include Responder Private Core and priority and pre-emption technology for first responders. This is the first state and local agency multi-vendor procurement in the United States for public safety-grade wireless data services.

The data services provided by Verizon feature virtualized, separate LTE core to maximize security for public safety users as well as Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards to implement Quality of Service (QoS), priority and pre-emption for public safety data communications.

Verizon will provide communications for every jurisdiction, public safety discipline and mobile carrier in Massachusetts. Public safety users responding to major incidents will be able to talk, text, share multimedia and instantly communicate, regardless of their selected public safety grade mobile carrier, plan or device.

This contract, a first in the highly developed U.S. market, seems like it ought to be a gold standard for large mobile operators looking to maximize revenue and lock in a major opportunity for future revenue streams, brand strengthening, and overall relevance in a changing mobile landscape.

We have written on numerous occasions about the need for MNOs to develop new kinds of business and products as the marketplace becomes less hospitable to traditional mobile services as a source of revenue growth. Verizon’s agreement with the state of Massachusetts involves the building out of what amounts to a special LTE network just for first responders and other public-safety entities. It is ingenious not only in its apparent efficacy and security but because it is completely agnostic of carrier or device. This enables Verizon to access a large number of users who must use the service, thus maximizing traffic on the network and in effect creating a user base in every jurisdiction in the state.

In addition to the direct earning of revenue, the implementation of this service could help with acquisition, as the Verizon public-safety network will be used at work by people who are subscribers to other carriers. The public-service nature of the contract also makes it a positive for Verizon, in that it will burnish the operator’s brand identity and thus promote customer acquisition among people who have nothing directly to do with public-safety work.

On the whole, this is a major coup for Verizon, and it is almost surprising that it is the first deal of its kind in the country. Operators there and in other markets should be very interested in arranging similar deals wherever possible.

Tarifica’s products and services are powered by large-scale data from the global telecom industry and a deep level of expertise gained from our singular focus. We leverage these core attributes to help our clients understand their markets and answer their most challenging questions. Our team of analysts, software engineers and data scientists deliver real-time dynamic solutions for the telecom industry. Our software and state of the art data extraction techniques enable our clients to make smart decisions in real-time based on insightful, actionable data. 

We are the telecom plan & pricing experts.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com