The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau today enabled AT&T to deploy two cell sites to support wireless service for a critical medical facility. That facility is being constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to care for COVID-19 patients. The Bureau granted AT&T's request to expedite environmental review of the two proposed wireless tower sites, which will also serve first responders as part of AT&T's FirstNet public safety broadband network. 'It's vital that we keep people connected during this pandemic. That includes those working at and, sadly, being cared for in medical facilities like this one,' said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. 'I'm grateful to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its remarkable work, to AT&T for finding ways to meet this important need for connectivity, and, of course, all those working in health care facilities across our country during this time of dire need. I'm glad the FCC's excellent staff was able to deliver for the people of Wisconsin, and we'll keep looking for other ways to help keep Americans connected during this national emergency. Contact: Tel: (888) 835-5322 (C) 2020 Electronic News Publishing, source ENP Newswire
AT&T, Nokia and IBM are among several telecom companies who have formed the the Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Alliance, a consortium aimed at researching and raising awareness about securing the IoT sector. In a statement, AT&T said areas requiring protection were the "endpoint, network, cloud and application layers", while threat analytics would be used to "study the entire IoT ecosystem and create products with built-in, always-on security." Spending on IoT items is set to hit $2tn in 2017, compared to $737bn last year.