The project is expansive, involves the cooperation of the federal and state governments and requires a wireless operator willing to build-out a nationwide public safety system. First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) received legal backing from Congress back in 2012, but it took a big step toward approving the $6.5 billion contract to build the network.
Earlier this week, the FirstNet board voted unanimously to give CEO Mike Poth authority to approve the $6.5 billion contract, reports govtech.com. FirstNet is expected to award the 25-year, $6.5 billion contract to AT&T, the only company that bid within the “competitive range.”
The board waited several weeks to vote on the approval of the contract award; That’s because Rivada Networks, a consortium comprised of Intel, Ericsson, Nokia and Fujitsu, sued the government after being excluded from bidding. On March 17, Federal Judge Elaine Kaplan ruled in favor of the government, which enabled the board to move forward with the vote, Inside Towers reported.
Poth’s official awarding of the bid is expected to come as early as the end of next week.
FirstNet Chairwoman Susan Swenson called the board’s vote “almost surreal” and a “milestone moment,” as the massive, lengthy project is currently in its fifth year. “Going back to when the project first started, everybody told me that we would never reach this day. They said, ‘We have no idea how you’re going to get from Point A to this particular point,” she told govtech.com. “We still obviously have quite a bit of work to do, but this is a significant day.”
Challenges ahead for the FirstNet project include ensuring the network is secure, working simultaneously with federal and state governments and the challenges of building out the network in rural areas.
March 30, 2017
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