FirstNet ‘Embroiled in Allegations’ and Struggling, Walden Says
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., plans to cite what he sees as struggles with FirstNet Thursday. His opening statement on a FirstNet hearing will cite the uncertainty that existed when the subcommittee reviewed FirstNet in March. “Unfortunately, rather than seeing those concerns wane as FirstNet has gained its footing, FirstNet finds itself embroiled in allegations from within that it lacks transparency and suffers from potential ethical conflicts,” Walden will say. “As a result, FirstNet is currently under investigation by the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce. Suffice it to say, this is not a confidence inspiring development.”
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The FCC has tried to aid the progress of FirstNet in various ways and sees the transition to Next-Generation 911 as pegged to FirstNet’s success, Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky plans to tell the subcommittee (http://1.usa.gov/1auodEq). “At its October 28, 2013 meeting, the Commission unanimously adopted a Report and Order consolidating basic technical rules for this [700 MHz] spectrum that will help to, among other things, prevent harmful interference and promote prompt certification of equipment to be used in the band,” Turetsky plans to say, saying the agency is “adopting a framework to evaluate whether certain early public safety broadband network deployments that were nearing completion when the legislation passed should proceed.”
FirstNet is struggling to coordinate myriad moving parts, Walden will warn in his statement. Congress has several major questions, largely unanswered, he says: “Is FirstNet going to partner with our national wireless providers or will it be just another commercial provider in government clothing? Has FirstNet modeled the costs for these options? Are states expected to give FirstNet their existing assets as an up front payment for participation? What is FirstNet going to charge local first responders for use of the network?”
The Ohio General Assembly worries about FirstNet, Ohio Chief Information Officer Stu Davis will testify (http://1.usa.gov/19I07Bz). The state has concerns about FirstNet’s business plan, costs the state may face, how the opt-out process will work, fair-market reimbursement for access and use of assets Ohio owns, among others, he will say. FirstNet’s outreach has improved “significantly” but many questions remain, according to Davis.
Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., will hail the “significant progress" FirstNet has made, from its hiring to its grants issued. But “the next 12 months represent a critical phase for FirstNet,” Eshoo will say in her opening statement. “To keep this project on schedule and on budget, FirstNet must continue to leverage the resources of the commercial wireless sector and ensure that it conducts a procurement process that is transparent, that it’s based on non-proprietary standards, and promotes competition among software and device manufacturers.” She will say she’s “disappointed” that the Bay Area’s public safety project was not able to negotiate a spectrum lease with FirstNet.
Harris Corp. commends FirstNet on its requests for information issued in the past year, Chief Technology Officer-Radio Frequency Communications Dennis Martinez will testify: “The RFI process has given the private sector a significant and clear window of visibility into potential requirements for equipment and services that FirstNet will procure.” FirstNet should keep engaging the private sector “at each opportunity,” Martinez will say (http://1.usa.gov/1aGZ3S5). Harris has kicked off pilot LTE projects in various jurisdictions, including Harris County, Texas.
New Mexico Department of Information Technology Cabinet Secretary Darryl Ackley plans to describe how a New Mexico project went from stimulus grantee to FirstNet Early Builder project. FirstNet began working out leases with public safety broadband network projects in various regions. Seven Broadband Technology Opportunities Program projects were stalled in the middle of last year, and some have negotiated spectrum leases with FirstNet in order to resume operations. “With respect to the lease, the process was intense at times and required a substantial amount of iteration,” Ackley plans to say (http://1.usa.gov/1fj1r6f). “For both parties, the process wasn’t without obstacles, though many of these were the result of negotiating with a nascent Federal entity for which the very parameters for negotiation were being pioneered as they were encountered. The State’s position was centered around negotiating a lease that accomplished the goals of FirstNet without impinging on the State’s ability to drive adoption and operability within the scope and limits of State law.” Much negotiation centered on nailing the key learning condition provisions of the lease, which touched on what both the project and FirstNet hoped to study and learn from, he will mention.
The hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. Also testifying are FirstNet Board Chairman Sam Ginn and Dereck Orr, National Institute of Standards and Technology program manager-Public Safety Communications Research Office of Law Enforcement Standards. (jhendel@warren-news.com)