AT&T to Provide Extra $2 billion for FirstNet
The House Commerce Committee cleared FirstNet reauthorization legislation last week.
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2026 – AT&T agreed to provide an extra $2 billion for the nationwide first responder network it operates for the Commerce Department, the agency said Tuesday.
Half of that would come from AT&T reducing fees related to the network by $1 billion, which would then be invested back into the network, plus an additional $1 billion investment from the carrier.
“I am proud to have secured $2 billion in improved value for our nation’s first responders by renegotiating the framework for AT&T’s FirstNet contract – this is a great example of Commerce delivering the Benefit of the Bargain for public safety,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement.
The deal would serve as a starting point for future negotiations around updating AT&T’s FirstNet contract, which hasn’t been officially changed yet, according to a person familiar with the matter.
NTIA said in a release the agency reached out to AT&T after an executive order directing agencies to review contracts.
“This deal delivers real results – expanding coverage, expediting overall 5G buildout for public safety, and adding investment into the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network. I appreciate the partnership with AT&T and the expertise of the FirstNet Board that made today’s agreement possible,” Arielle Roth, head of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said in a statement.
The network, known as FirstNet, was created in 2017 with $6.5 billion in spectrum auction proceeds.
AT&T is supposed to pay the FirstNet Authority a total of $18 billion over the course of the 25-year contract. Much of that money will then be invested back into FirstNet.
Before Tuesday, the company had already committed to $8 billion in FirstNet investments.
Reauthorization legislation
The FirstNet Authority has to be reauthorized by Congress by February 2027 or it will sunset, something lawmakers and public safety groups broadly agree would be disruptive.
The House Commerce Committee advanced legislation by a 51-0 vote last week that would reauthorize the agency through September 2037 and increase NTIA oversight of the FirstNet Authority. Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have been receptive to the idea of more oversight after a series of negative Commerce Department inspector general reports on the FirstNet Authority.
Among other things, the bill would require NTIA approval before any FirstNet Authority actions, with 11 exceptions related to emergency response and network management.
Lawmakers got more than a dozen public safety groups to support the legislation, but some like the Fraternal Order of Police oppose any restructuring to FirstNet Authority. They fear the agency would be mired in bureaucracy.
But a so-called clean reauthorization without reforms “was never on the table, or an appropriate path forward,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said last week.
Member discussion