House Communications Subcommittee Checks in on FirstNet Progress

The House Communications Subcommittee held a hearing checking in on the progress made in the deployment of FirstNet, the first nationwide, interoperable broadband public safety network. Chairman Blackburn kicked things off by highlighting the importance of FirstNet to help first responders and make communities safer, “A lot of work at this committee went into reviewing the recommendations from the 9/11 commission on how to better prepare our first responders in times of crisis. Interoperability has long been a challenge for our state and local authorities, and in the wake of the recent natural disasters they have faced, its importance is as clear as ever.”

Ranking Member Mike Doyle (D-PA) raised the issues of the risks of opting out of the AT&T/FirstNet network. He said that the key is interoperability. He said states that opt out are gambling on a private partner's ability to deliver a comparable network to the public-private FirstNet offering--AT&T and the Department of Commerce are essentially partners. He said the likelihood of failure with an opt-out private partner was high.

Michael Poth, CEO of FirstNet, provided an update on deployment progress, “Since its inception, FirstNet has taken the necessary steps to build an organization, execute a vigorous consultation and outreach strategy, develop and release a comprehensive request for proposals (RFP), select an experienced and proven wireless industry leader for a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership, and lay the groundwork for a successful deployment of the NPSBN. Much has been accomplished. However, as it is with any unprecedented undertaking, every step forward presents new challenges and requires identification of innovative solutions.”