FCC Decides Against Buildout Requirements for FirstNet
The FCC addressed some of its remaining FirstNet responsibilities in a report and order released Friday. The agency declined “at this time” to impose a buildout requirement on the network as a renewal condition for its 758-769/788-799 MHz band spectrum. The FCC also created a mechanism to facilitate the relocation of the public safety narrowband incumbents using the band. And it opened a rulemaking on proposed procedures for administering the state opt-out process as provided by the Public Safety Spectrum Act. Commissioners approved 5-0. The FirstNet Board Friday, meanwhile, approved a $6.585 billion budget for FY2017 that will support the award of a FirstNet contract and includes $85 million for FirstNet operations.
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The order doesn’t impose specific rules requiring FirstNet to meet rural deployment benchmarks, Commissioner Ajit Pai said in a statement, but “I’m satisfied that we have made substantial progress in this regard.” Pai was the lone commissioner to release a statement. He said he recently went to West Virginia, where he visited a disaster area, and in Clay, a 911 call center where emergency operators continued to handle calls even as flood waters entered their building.
Rural areas can’t be left behind as FirstNet is built, Pai said. “The Order makes clear that FirstNet has a statutory duty to ensure substantial rural coverage,” he said. “It recognizes that FirstNet has incorporated rural coverage benchmarks into its procurement process. And it specifically states that the FCC will monitor deployment in rural areas in order to ensure that FirstNet has met its legal obligations.”
The spectrum act “empowers” the FCC to renew FirstNet’s license after its initial 10-year term, the order said. The network authority is required to submit a renewal application to the commission demonstrating it met its duties and obligations under the act, but the act doesn’t “provide guidance to the Commission on how to evaluate whether FirstNet has met its duties and obligations,” the FCC said. In a 2013 notice, the FCC sought comment on how it should assess FirstNet’s success. Because the spectrum act includes benchmarks, as does FirstNet’s request for proposals, “there is no need at this time to establish additional Commission rules to ensure rural coverage or any of the other requirements for renewal of FirstNet’s license,” the FCC said. “By avoiding prescriptive regulatory requirements, we also maintain flexibility for both FirstNet and the states in terms of planning for optimal network coverage.”
The order also effectively ratified FirstNet’s plans for moving incumbent systems out of the spectrum the authority will use so buildout can start. Earlier this month, the network awarded grants of as much as $14 million to help public safety systems relocate (see 1608180057).
“The process that FirstNet has proposed and the grant program it has implemented are sufficient to ensure a smooth, timely, and adequately funded transition by narrowband incumbents, while providing flexibility to all involved,” the FCC said. The agency formally imposed the same deadline as FirstNet for leaving the band -- Aug. 31, 2017. The grant performance time frame and relocation deadline “establish a reasonable transition timetable for incumbent operators to complete relocation,” the FCC said. “Narrowband incumbents have been on notice since August 2007 that they would need to vacate the broadband segment of the band.”
Review Criteria
The FCC NPRM sought comment on the scope, criteria and time frame for review of alternative plans submitted by states that opt out. Under statute, a state has 90 days to opt out after it receives a proposal from FirstNet, then 180 days to submit an alternative plan for FCC OK. Once the commission approves the plan, the state can apply to NTIA for a grant under a process for which that agency is now seeking comments (see 1607180052). Comments on proposals and questions in the FCC NPRM are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, with replies due 30 days after comments.
The commission proposed focusing its review on interoperability issues so it won’t overlap with NTIA’s review assessing a state’s technical ability to operate and fund the state radio access network. "We propose that any alternate plan submitted by a state that would require alteration or changes to the FirstNet network to accommodate the state’s proposed RAN would not meet the interoperability requirement under the Act,” the FCC said.
The agency proposed a 90-day shot clock for each plan's review. “While we anticipate that review of individual state alternative plans could be accomplished reasonably quickly, we must also account for the possibility that the Commission may be required to review and act on multiple state plans submitted to it simultaneously, and that state plans may vary from one another based on the specific circumstances of each state,” it said. The FCC proposed that if it rejects a state’s plan, there would be no second chance for the state to come up with another. Instead, the state would have to accept the FirstNet plan, the FCC said. While states would have 180 days after opting out to complete a request for proposal and submit an alternative plan to the communications regulator, the commission proposed a state opting out must notify the FCC about its choice in the same 90-day time frame for notifying FirstNet and NTIA. If a state fails to meet the 180-day requirement, it forfeits its right to have an alternative plan considered, the commission proposed.
The agency would consider an alternative plan​ complete if it addresses: (1) construction, maintenance, operation and improvements of the state RAN; (2) statutory interoperability requirements; and (3) all requirements of the Technical Advisory Board for First Responder Interoperability. The FCC asked if it should require a standardized format for alternative plans. It asked if it should allow states to file amendments or supplemental information after it has filed but before the FCC’s decision, and if commission staff should be allowed to discuss or seek clarifications. And it asked how much of the plans should be made public and who should be able to comment on them.
FirstNet on Track
FirstNet CEO Mike Poth said at a special FirstNet board meeting Friday the authority remains on track to award a contract in November. The board will likely will hold a special meeting then to sign off on the award, he said. FirstNet staff are “working feverishly” on completing evaluation of the groups of companies that made a bid to be part of the FirstNet, Poth said. "FY ’17 is going to be a very exciting year,” he said.
“This mission-driven budget reflects our goals for the organization, for the Network, and for public safety,” said FirstNet Chair Sue Swenson in a news release. “This has been quite the journey,” Swenson said during the meeting. “It’s exciting to be at this stage.”
The budget gives FirstNet “the flexibility we will need to operationalize, deliver 56 individual State plans, and enable public safety adoption of the Network,” the news release said. “As part of its Network contract, FirstNet will contribute 20 Megahertz of low-band spectrum and up to $6.5 billion to enable a partnership to ensure the building and operation of the Network during a 25-year term.”