Charlotte's CIO divulges why the city did not gain access to FirstNet spectrum

Charlotte (NC) Chief Information Officier Jeff Stovall said concerns about sustainability of the city's planned public-safety network ultimately led to a suspension of negotiations that could have enabled Charlotte to lease 700 MHz spectrum from the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet).

Charlotte was one of seven National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (BTOP) public-safety entities whose funding was halted during spring 2012 by NTIA due to concerns the BTOP projects might be incompatible with the national public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) being planned by FirstNet.

The only way BTOPs could get their programs going again was if they completed a spectrum manager lease agreement (SMLA) with FirstNet to access its 700 MHz spectrum and had their rollout plan approved by NTIA.

Stovall said several changes during the funding freeze period -- including stricter building codes and a lowering of cellular service rate by commercial mobile network operators -- impacted the business plan for the Charlotte public-safety network, potentially leading to funding shortfalls for both deployment and operations.