Network priority access for critical communications

Connectivity that puts public safety at the front of the line.

4 min read

See what T-Priority can do for you:

Streamlined communications on the nation’s leading 5G network.
Automatic prioritization—no need for manual invocation.
2.5X faster speeds for data-intensive communications.
Higher capacity and lower latency for more devices and users.

Executive summary

“In an emergency, staying connected is vital to delivering an effective response that protects public safety. Priority access and preemption with T-Mobile ensures critical communications are prioritized.”

Scott Wiley, T-Mobile for Government

First responders deserve the ultimate in-network performance. That's why we created T-Priority—built for tomorrow's emergencies, ready today.

T-Priority is the world’s first 5G network slice for public safety. A key component of T-Priority, priority access and preemption, moves your team’s critical communications to the front of the line. So you get more capacity, faster speeds, and better coverage—even during extreme network congestion.

Increasing network demands

Public safety’s critical communications rely on smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices to conduct effective response operations. You need connectivity that goes beyond the limited coverage and capacity you get with Land Mobile Radio (LMR).

Especially when the public is also placing high demand on the network, like a large event or natural disaster when networks can become congested. With network priority access and preemption, your team’s critical communications move to the front of the line—avoiding risky delays, which could impede your ability to respond.

How priority access and preemption works

With network priority access and preemption, your voice, data, and messages get automatic prioritization over non-essential network traffic. And once you’re connected, you stay connected, even with severe congestion or poor radio coverage.

During times of major network congestion, non-priority users are preempted from the network to make room for your team’s traffic. And, in rare cases, non-priority users are dropped from the network, although that’s less common today with the robustness of our 5G network. When needed, the T-Priority 5G network slice can also expand to provide extra data capacity, ensuring your team is first in line.

The power of a 5G Standalone core

What really sets T-Priority apart is our 5G Standalone (SA) core. With advanced features like ultra-low latency and network slicing, you’ll experience faster speeds for a greater number of devices compared to Non-Standalone (NSA).

And, unlike other networks, 5G SA doesn’t depend on 4G infrastructure, so it can optimize 5G spectrum and resources for more efficiency.

With our 5G SA network core, T-Priority delivers 2.5X faster all-network speeds on average, 40% more 5G capacity, and more far-reaching 5G coverage than AT&T or Verizon—covering 98% of Americans.

T-Priority: Built for tomorrow’s emergencies. Ready today

Like many public safety agencies, you may use drones and AR/VR tools in your response efforts alongside smartphones, tablets, and other IoT tools. These data-intensive devices create a much larger need for network capacity.

With T-Priority, you benefit from:

More capacity: Get reliable connectivity for more devices and users, even in high-density environments.
Faster speeds: Access and send large amounts of data quickly with higher data transfer speeds.
Lower latency: Maintain lag-free, real-time communication for time-sensitive operations.
More 5G coverage: Stay covered with the nation’s largest 5G network.
Enhanced security SASE: Access a security slice from T-Mobile SASE that helps defend against cyber threats. When your mission leaves no room for error, T-Priority is here to support you, so you can act quickly and confidently in the most critical situations.

For qualifying emergency response organizations on eligible rate plans. WPS enrollment with USDHS required for enhanced network functionality (including priority access, preemption, basic performance baseline, and T-Priority Slice features). Features available on our network; not available while roaming. T-Priority Slice features (data prioritization and enhanced downlink baseline) available in areas of Ultra Capacity 5G coverage with capable device and 5G Standalone settings; see T-Mobile.com/5Glayers. Baseline commits available network resources to help maintain threshold throughput; does not guarantee threshold speeds in all network conditions.