Perceived primarily as a data-centric network, FirstNet connectivity is gaining traction as a mission-critical-voice alternative to traditional land-mobile-radio (LMR) technology, as speakers during IWCE 2022 conference sessions have noted this week.

Push-to-talk (PTT) solution ESChat was one of the first applications included in the FirstNet App Catalog when it was established years ago, but all forms of PTT over FirstNet primarily have been used as augmentations to LMR systems, which has been a foundation of public-safety communication for more than 60 years.