New Mexico wants to be part of the FirstNet vanguard,...
New Mexico wants to be part of the FirstNet vanguard, according to recent filings at the FCC and NTIA. The state “remains an ideal location for maintaining a lease for the purposes of acting as an operational test bed, as…
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originally envisioned and supported by the [FCC],” the New Mexico Department of Information Technology (NM DoIT) said in a June 27 meeting with the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau (http://xrl.us/bndatt). New Mexico has already begun operating on the 700 MHz public safety spectrum as part of its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant funding and supports “a two-year extension of the lease allowing New Mexico’s operational deployment on this spectrum,” the state said. Several factors make New Mexico ideal for testing, NM DoIT said, including “a range of geographic, population and public-safety entity diversity that provides a robust environment from which to test interoperability at the federal, state and municipal levels” and “an extensive digital-microwave backhaul network, including 100 towers, that can immediately be used in exploring relevant issues such as last-mile and public-private partnerships, particularly for rural areas of the state.” In June 15 comments to NTIA (http://xrl.us/bndauf), NM DoIT referred to its extensive help in preparing for FirstNet and encouraged outreach to utilities: “Funds should be made available as part of the planning process for states to reach out to explore partnership opportunities with the utilities."