First responders in Las Vegas rely on AT&T’s FirstNet network to stay connected during a Formula 1 race

At the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Rich Johnson can hear the sounds of Formula 1 cars racing in downtown Las Vegas, but he won’t be able to see them all weekend. And he’s fine with that.

Although he is in town specifically for the event, his main focus is ensuring that if any emergencies occur, first responders can communicate and coordinate effectively. I spent some time with Johnson, associate director of network disaster recovery at AT&T, to learn more about an important part of the race weekend that most people won’t — and shouldn’t — think about.

Johnson oversees teams of people and resources strategically positioned around the racetrack and throughout the city as part of the First Netthe First Responder Network Authority“A private/public partnership between AT&T and the U.S. government to create, maintain and service a nationwide public safety communications network,” he explains.

FirstNet operates on Band 14, a block of spectrum reserved for first responders so they don’t have to compete for a signal if something happens, even in a radio-rich environment like a Formula 1 race.

“If our primary means of communication fail, we have backups we can turn to,” said Brian O’Neill, deputy fire chief with the Clark County Fire Department and Clark County Emergency Manager. “That typically involves going from radio to cell phone. When you look at an event like this, where a 3.8-mile track runs through downtown, the capacity within that system becomes a concern.”

That’s where FirstNet comes in, allowing every first responder to communicate with each other on this dedicated spectrum, which is unaffected by all the other competing signals.

As I spoke with O’Neill and Johnson, several bright yellow Clark County fire trucks pulled up behind them to be deployed throughout the area. Johnson noted that while the event is being held, traffic is worse because it is closed, so it is very difficult to get in and out.

“All of those fire trucks are going to end up in that footprint before it gets shut down,” Johnson said. “Because we are so concerned with public safety, this is part of the plan. We also have our staff and equipment pre-positioned throughout the presence area.”

One piece of equipment Johnson showed me was a small, portable trailer that one person could set up. When activated, a process that takes about 30 minutes, it provides about a mile of FirstNet coverage.

It was often towed by a larger response communications vehicle, which was also parked at the ready and had a 20-foot deployable mast that could provide cellular communications to first responders within a radius of approximately one and a half miles.

Johnson also took me to the roof of a nearby parking garage, where a mobile network tower occupied two parking spaces with a beautiful view of downtown Las Vegas and the racetrack in the distance. It is in “hot standby” mode as a backup to ensure constant flow of communications. If necessary, it can be activated remotely in a few seconds, using a large dish to communicate with a long-range satellite as a data link.

It’s unlikely the unit will be used over the weekend, but committing to multiple redundant systems is why it’s parked in the same spot as it was last year.

Johnson said planning an event like this takes about six months, although a lot of it was put together in four months this year because this is the third Grand Prix in Las Vegas that FirstNet has a presence at. Both Johnson and O’Neill emphasized that the technologies and capabilities of these tools are used year-round in day-to-day operations as well. It’s greatly scaled for a planned event like this.

AT&T has more than 190 assets such as those dedicated to FirstNet, with access to more than 750 AT&T assets they can use exclusively for public safety if needed, Johnson said.