In March, the US government awarded a contract to AT&T to build the network, years after a federal commission recommended setting up such a system following the 9/11 attacks.
The No. 2 US wireless carrier will receive 20 megahertz of wireless airwaves and success-based payments of $6.5 billion over the next five years as part of the project known as FirstNet. AT&T expects to spend about $40 billion over 25 years to build and maintain the network.
States had until Thursday to opt out of AT&T's network and build their own public safety networks. In addition to the states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands also opted for FirstNet, AT&T said. Decisions from the three Pacific territories of American Samoa, Guam and Northern Mariana Islands are not due until March 12, 2018.
Copyright Reuters, 2017