FirstNet Years Ahead of Schedule for Some States, NPSTC Told
States that opt in to FirstNet will be able to make the national broadband network available to public safety agencies as much as three years faster than expected, board member Kevin McGinnis told the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council Thursday. Meanwhile, FirstNet said a seventh state, West Virginia, opted to join. The network “sped everything up” and that “becomes quite a challenge for FirstNet staff to manage,” McGinnis said.
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The relationship between lead network partner AT&T and FirstNet “has gone very, very well,” McGinnis said. “FirstNet staff have been extremely impressed by the preparation of the AT&T team in all areas. It’s a large team and larger organization.” There have been some “rough edges,” he said. One concern he heard is that AT&T operations in the states and territories “continue to do their thing as FirstNet winds up” with competing product offerings, he said. “On occasion, that may present some confusion, but I think that gets quickly addressed.”
McGinnis said language in the law that authorized FirstNet caused some problems with tribes because all contact with states is through state points of contact. FirstNet will soon publish a consultation policy for tribes, he said. One other recent concern involves hardening the network, a question raised at a congressional hearing last week (see 1707200042). The issue has been addressed, McGinnis said. “It was perhaps not as well explained [at the hearing] as we would have explained it.”
Tom Sorley, chair of the FirstNet Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC), told NPSTC his advisory group is also focused on tribal issues. Sorley said PSAC members recently met with leaders of the Navaho Nation, which extends across three states. “When you talk about opt in versus opt out, it’s kind of interesting for them because they have three governors to deal with,” he said.
A pending report on public safety and the IoT is focusing on FirstNet, said Barry Fraser, chairman of NPSTC's IoT working group. “We’re monitoring FirstNet’s rollout, of course, but also looking at what Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile may be doing as well in this area.”
Michael Britt, chairman of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Robotics Working Group, said the working group recently was briefed by AT&T and is working on a report on the public safety use of aerial platforms, including cells on wings. NPSTC posted an initial report by the group on public safety use of drones, Britt said.
Public safety consultant Andrew Seybold blogged that AT&T shared its vision for the network in more depth than before at the hearing, making clear it will deploy FirstNet’s 600 MHz spectrum only where needed. “In most areas of the United States this will result in public safety having access to double or even triple the spectrum and public safety will have full priority access on all of it,” Seybold wrote. “AT&T has made the public safety network better.”