FirstNet Becoming Self-Sustaining, Faces Continuing Tests, Board Told
FirstNet is getting widespread use, from the deadly Memorial Day weekend flood in Ellicott City, Maryland, to wildfires in Texas, to planning for big events like the Boston Marathon, CEO Mike Poth said at the quarterly board meeting Wednesday. FirstNet said it passed a milestone in April, receiving its first payment from network partner AT&T.
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“This is live, it’s real and there are real use cases going on,” Poth said in a report to the board. Much more work remains and staff is closely monitoring AT&T’s buildout, he said. “We’re still very optimistic,” he said.
Chair Sue Swenson said the network is facing a new test on almost a daily basis. “There are fires and floods, there are all kinds of incidents,” she said. “The ability to contribute deployables for those incidents is actually working quite well.” Public safety should feel reassured that a large number of devices will be available to use the network, with 31 devices already available, Swenson said. “That gives public safety a lot of choice,” she said.
The payment from AT&T “ensures our financial sustainability,” said Edward Horowitz, Finance Committee chair. “We’ve got to be a self-sustained organization and the way that happens is by AT&T delivering on its promise for payments to us.” Horowitz said the committee will submit FirstNet’s FY 2019 budget to the board for a vote at September's meeting.
The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council, meanwhile, released a statement Wednesday supporting FirstNet. When the authority was formed, “state and local public safety provided proposed specifications through a multi-year state consultation and [request for proposals] process,” NPSTC said. “Public safety did, and will continue, to have input to FirstNet. FirstNet has a physically separate, redundant, and dedicated core -- it is NOT a virtual core as part of a commercial network.”
Officials said 18 people have applied for five FirstNet open board seats.