By Laura French
BELLEVUE, Wash. — T-Mobile has announced that it will provide free 5G access to public and nonprofit first responder agencies for 10 years.
T-Mobile President and CEO Mike Sievert said in a video published Thursday that the “Connecting Heroes” program is expected to save fire, EMS and police departments across the U.S. billions of dollars.
“When we’re at our most vulnerable, first responders are there for us ... and they are under more pressure today than ever before. Connecting Heroes is one way we’re saying ‘thank you’ in this critical time,” Sievert said. “People who save lives shouldn’t have to choose between life-saving equipment and wireless service. And with Connecting Heroes, they won’t have to. We’re not limiting this program to a few months or a year ... first responders can get free service including 5G access, for a full decade.”
T-Mobile estimates the program would save a total of $7.7 billion over the next 10 years if all eligible agencies opted in, according to a news release.
Connecting Heroes went live Thursday following T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint on April 1.