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Verizon get ready for disasters with the massive 5G THOR truck
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The operator is using drones for wildfire detection, mapping and more
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Red the robot dog can be used for detecting human tissue in disaster situations
Verizon went big for its Frontline first responder event in Detroit last week.
Despite AT&T winning the right to build out the FirstNet 700 MHz 4G LTE network in 2017, forming the first nationwide broadband interoperable public safety network, Verizon has continued to hammer its public safety message home, with discounts for first responders and an array of public safety vehicles and network assets on display in the motor city.
AT&T's broad nationwide outage Feb. 22, which also affected FirstNet, didn't hurt Verizon's messaging. FirstNet CEO Joe Wassel said after the event that the outage lasted “about 3 hours” for some FirstNet users across the country.
Verizon showed off its wares for first responders in a rainy parking lot in the trendy-post industrial Corktown neighborhood of Detroit last week, coinciding with the NFL Draft. City police kicked the tires of various vehicles and safety demos. Let’s take at look at what was there:
The Tactical Humanitarian Operations Response (THOR) vehicle was the centerpiece of the event. The carrier describes THOR as a "a mobile, private 5G Ultra Wideband (UWB) and mobile edge compute (MEC) rapid-response command center vehicle" that has been used to deploy Verizon 5G in disaster areas across the United States.
THOR was used to provide emergency 5G coverage in Florida after hurricane Ian made landfall there in September 2022. Verizon followed that up with support after hurricane Nicole hit in November 2022.
Verizon also showed off several drones. They included a smaller drone used for search and rescue activities, Jason Mitchell a Frontline associate director for 27 states in the U.S. said.
For bigger jobs, Mitchell showed off a large orange drone. "We call this a Wing Trim, which is a vertical take off and landing unmanned aircraft system, which allows us to do 3D mapping," Mitchell said. Verizon has already started tests of 3D mapping of cell sites using the drone.
Verizon also showed off its famous Red robot dog, used for tasks like looking for human tissue in the wake of a disaster.
The New York Fire Department has already proved that a robot dog can help protect lives by using the digidog to enter a collapsed four-story building rather than human firefighters.