Those in the know might not be surprised to hear that AT&T employs full-time meteorologists to help determine where it needs to be in terms of backing up network equipment during times of rough weather or natural disasters.
But the company recently expanded its team of weather experts, and they're now helping to support FirstNet, the first-of-its-kind network built for public safety.
AT&T is the only carrier in the country with a weather operations center and full-time meteorologists on staff, said AT&T FirstNet Program Assistant Vice President Scott Agnew in a blog post.
John Sisak, lead meteorologist who directs day-to-day operations of the AT&T Weather Operations Center (AWOC), said their sole purpose is to forecast and analyze weather risks, allowing AT&T – and now FirstNet – to proactively prepare for and respond to storms and other natural disasters.
In some form or another, the AWOC has informally supported FirstNet since 2017, but it was usually more ad hoc because they didn’t have the level of staffing to support it, he told Fierce. However, they recently hired two new meteorologists to expand their support to a total of five.
In some cases, it might not always be a weather event that prompts the collaboration. For example, if there’s a public safety event like a train derailment or major wildfire, “then they want to make sure that weather’s got their back,” and the weather team will immediately respond.
2022 hurricane season
In a blog post last week, AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet President Jason Porter noted that the 2022 hurricane season already is in full swing, with three storm systems having already been named by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The FirstNet team has been hard at work connecting with public safety agencies in storm-prone communities as they prepare for this year’s hurricane season, he said.
Sisak said it’s looking like it’s going to be another active season, with 18 and possibly up to 20 storms. The early part of the season tends to be quiet, but “don’t be fooled,” he said. Events like Katrina and Andrew were in the third week of August, so the last half of August is “hunker down” time until about mid-September and then again in October.
A Network Operations Center for weather
Sisak has about 17 monitors and four computers in his room, including a studio, and the other offices are expanding to form a similar set-up. At one point they were all located in the Dallas area, but they’re now in separate Southeast locations – three in the Atlanta, one in Miami and one in the Dallas areas.
Interestingly, Sisak is undertaking a sort of second-generation career at AT&T. He joined the company in 2009 as a retail sales consultant and was promoted to retail manager in Miami. He later became an account executive in the National Business Team.
He happened to have a degree in meteorology, and in 2017, he joined AWOC in Dallas before relocating to the Miami area. The other four meteorologists on the AWOC team are also folks with impressive backgrounds at government agencies, the White House Military Office, the National Weather Service and the Weather Channel.
Of course, it’s not solely about protecting and deploying network equipment and public safety officials.
The AWOC also helps advise regional leaders and planners at retail stores when they may need to be temporarily closed and which stores might make good focal points after severe weather hits to quickly distribute resources to affected communities, including mobile phone charging stations.
Verizon’s Frontline Response
For anyone wondering, the rivalry between AT&T and Verizon for public safety customers is alive and well. According to Verizon, it still serves more public safety customers “by a country mile” than anyone else in the U.S., but AT&T was awarded the FirstNet contract, and so far, more than 21,800 public safety agencies and organizations have signed onto FirstNet, accounting for 3.7 million connections.
Asked about Verizon’s public safety support during severe weather events, a Verizon Frontline spokesperson said it has teams actively monitoring, analyzing and disseminating information that could potentially affect its operations or customers. That includes the ability to set up portable cell sites, Wi-Fi hotspots, free charging stations and other solutions as needed.
“The Verizon Frontline Response Team, made up of former first responders and military members, has also built trusted partnerships within the public safety community through participation in a number of training exercises and emergency response efforts,” the spokesperson said. “These relationships allow us to understand the unique and evolving needs of first responders and provide them with the mission-critical communications capabilities they need during a crisis.”
Editor's Note: Article updated July 26 with most recent FirstNet signatories.