Verizon, Rivada Question FirstNet Neutrality, as 30th State Opts In

The network reached 30 states to opt in to the network. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) opted in to FirstNet, the administration said in a Wednesday news release. It’s the sixth state to join after requesting alternative radio-access-network (RAN) plans and the 32nd state or territory overall.

“If you opt out, you can’t work with Verizon” or anyone other than AT&T, according to terms and conditions that FirstNet sent to some undecided states, said Verizon Vice President-Public Safety Policy Don Brittingham in an interview. Opt-out means the state assumes responsibility for the RAN and can choose another vendor to build one, but it also contractually commits a state to AT&T for 25 years, he said. States that opt in accept AT&T’s RAN but aren't obligated to use AT&T services, he said. The law didn’t require opt-out states to commit to AT&T, so states should push back, Brittingham said.

“When people understood there to be an opt-out option, they thought that really meant opt out,” said the executive. The carrier isn’t saying it prefers states to opt in and the carrier wants to serve public safety agencies regardless of their decision, he said. “We don’t want one of those paths to be more difficult.” If states don’t like restrictive opt-out terms, they should push back, he said.

“The law clearly states that the [network] shall be based on a single, national core network, and that opt-out states must connect their RAN with the FirstNet core to ensure nationwide interoperability,” a FirstNet spokesman said: “FirstNet has been sharing consistent information on this issue as far back as 2013" through requests for information, public notices, 2015's final legal interpretations "and several years of outreach and consultation with the states and territories."

Rivada also disagreed with Verizon’s interpretation. “Opting out doesn’t affect a state’s ability to use Verizon’s public safety core and core services for anything outside of Band 14, and I’m not sure why Verizon would suggest otherwise,” a Rivada spokesman said. “Nothing in the law requires states to contract with FirstNet for all services connected to Band 14.”

Secret Contract

The law establishing FirstNet gives a state the choice to deploy its own RAN, but requires it to connect to FirstNet’s core network, the authority wrote in October 2015 documents interpreting the statute.

It's “the only entity responsible for constructing a core network,” said one document. The statute doesn’t mandate that public safety subscribe to the network, no matter if they opt in or out, and “the Act provides sufficient flexibility to accommodate many types of customer relationships with public safety entities for States assuming RAN responsibility so long as the relationships meet the interoperability and self-sustainment goals of the Act,” said a second document. The statute doesn’t preclude opt-out states “from charging subscription fees to public safety entities if FirstNet and such States agree to such an arrangement in the spectrum capacity lease.”

What changed since the 2015 interpretation is the signing of AT&T, said Colorado Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Brian Shepherd. “It has been known that opt-out states would have to use FirstNet's core since inception,” he said. “The issue is that the assumption was based on the idea that FirstNet itself would manage an independent core neutral to any carrier. What FirstNet has done is turn the core over to AT&T to manage and it appears it will not be an independent core, which provides AT&T an enormous amount of control over public safety communications.” A contractual obligation for opt-out states to use AT&T’s core “essentially negates many options for states since the core is what manages the billing process and functionality,” said Shepherd. “It's essentially tied to that billing structure which complicates the opt-out process significantly.”

“No one will get to the bottom of this without reading the contract -- and that’s still not available,” said Sherry Lichtenberg, principal for telecom research and policy at the National Regulatory Research Institute, who attended the NARUC panel where Brittingham raised the issue. AT&T didn’t comment. Our previous Freedom of Information Act request for the contract was turned down as the network is exempt from FOIA under the law (see 1703290047).

FirstNet denied another Verizon claim earlier this week. Brittingham said on the NARUC panel that FirstNet and AT&T may be using proprietary standards in violation of the law, but a FirstNet official said AT&T is using proprietary standards only for testing and certification of devices on its network (see 1711130035). Rivada, Verizon, New Hampshire and others have raised questions about possible FirstNet fees in the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars for opt-out states whose alternative networks fail. At a Nov. 1 House Communications Subcommittee hearing, FirstNet CEO Mike Poth clarified that those estimates are worst-case scenarios and FirstNet would help states minimize costs (see 1711010035).

No Opposition Research

Rivada’s Ganley asked Poth about the accuracy of a Nov. 11 article in the New Hampshire Union Leader that said FirstNet sent “opposition research” that questioned Rivada’s ability to build a RAN.

In a Wednesday letter, Ganley asked Poth to seek correction of the article. FirstNet asked for correction Monday, said the FirstNet spokesman, and the publication did so Wednesday afternoon. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and SPOC John Stevens didn’t comment.

Colorado has “not been sent anything directly” in terms of opposition research, Shepherd said. But he noted AT&T created websites in Colorado and New Hampshire urging state opt-in decisions, including keepingcoloradosafe.org and keepingnewhampshiresafe.org. Colorado held a request for proposals and is undecided, and New Hampshire set up a committee to more seriously weigh opt-out (see 1710160063).