The FirstNet project has undergone hiccups in its five years as a federal program—from a delayed timeline to mismanagement. But it may receive an even more serious blow if reports are true that a majority of states may choose to opt out of the program and create their own safety networks, according to a report published by Fed Scoop.
In June, AT&T, which won the federal contract to build out the nationwide network, will present its draft plan of the network to each state. States have the option to accept the AT&T plan, or choose an alternative vendor to build out its own network, which the state can then connect into the national network for a fee.
Indeed, several states, including New Hampshire, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Alabama, Wisconsin and California, have already issued Requests For Proposals or Requests For Information, perhaps indicating early interest in an alternative vendor for the project. State officials told Fed Scoop that issuing such requests are merely part of the state’s due diligence. However, within the past year, several sources told StateScoop that some states have no intention of perusing an alternative plan.
But several industry sources told Fed Scoop there is brewing dissatisfaction with the handling of the project, especially the overdrawn process of awarding the bid to build out the network. Congress approved provisions for the project in 2012, but the contract for the network build out was awarded just this year, Inside Towers reported.
“It took them almost four and a half years to award the contract,” Royce Kincaid, a former executive with aerospace and defense firm Northrop Grumman, told Fed Scoop. “Sure, FirstNet had to abide by the legislation and they had to get a lot of input. If it took that long in the commercial world, those people would have been fired.”
Politicians have also weighed in to express their dissatisfaction with the handling of the project, which has been discussed ever since the publishing of the 9/11 Commission report as an important tool in the event of an emergency, like a terrorist attack. Former Maryland governor and 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley told Fed Scoop: “Administrations change, but the story’s always the same. The federal government wants to take our public safety spectrum from us, [give it] to a giant national monopoly for a one-time price and pat us on the head and tell us they’ll get to us with interoperable communications. And I don’t think governors are inclined to buy it.” O’Malley is on the board of Rivada Mercury, which sued the government for not being deemed eligible to bid on the final FirstNet contract.
In response to this story, a FirstNet spokeswoman tells Inside Towers that many states are not working towards an alternative plan. FirstNet and AT&T are working on state plans together and aim to have these out in June. Indeed, Chief Gary McCarraher, chairman of the Communications Committee of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, is encouraging members to contact their FirstNet State Points of Contact to get up-to-date information about their specific state plans and provide input as their governors make their decision. “Make sure the governor understands that if he/she allows FirstNet to buildout the RAN, one of the key benefits of the partnership will be the availability of priority services immediately after a governor makes the decision to stay in the network. This priority access will be made available over FirstNet’s existing partner AT&T’s nationwide network and on all its Long-Term Evolution bands. This is only available to opt-in states,” McCarraher recently blogged.
The Association of Public-Safety Communications Officialsbelieves most states will opt-in and that opting-out is a false choice. APCO Government Relations Director Jeff Cohen stated recently in this blog: “If a governor seeks to ‘opt out,’ pursuing construction of the state’s portion of the network through an arduous process that Congress strongly discouraged, states face significant costs and risks.” Cohen adds: “You don’t need to construct your own RAN to ensure you have the level of local control public safety expects. LTE technology is completely different than land mobile radio networks, and offers numerous features that permit local customization.”
May 26, 2017 – Article was updated at 1:30 p.m. EST
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