GAO Urges Congress to Renew FirstNet Before '27 Sunset, Consider Whether to Keep It in NTIA
Congress “should consider reauthorizing FirstNet and ensure that key statutory and contract responsibilities are addressed before the 2027 sunset,” the GAO said in a report released Tuesday. “Without congressional action on FirstNet’s key statutory responsibilities … it is unclear how…
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the federal government will continue to oversee network operations and the network’s required enhancements when FirstNet’s authority sunsets” in 2027, GAO said in the report, sought by Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “Given the interconnectedness of FirstNet’s ongoing key statutory responsibilities, dispersing these responsibilities among multiple federal agencies might complicate oversight, add complexity to continuing network operations, and lead to inefficiencies.” Congress “could reauthorize FirstNet to fulfill the key statutory requirements and contract responsibilities” currently within its remit, GAO said. “This option could prevent any potential operational uncertainties surrounding the oversight and management of the network and contract with AT&T.” Lawmakers could also “deliberate on FirstNet’s organizational placement” by either keeping it within NTIA, place it “within another federal agency” or make it “independent of an existing federal agency,” GAO said. “FirstNet officials told us that if Congress considered moving FirstNet, the least disruptive move would be as an independent entity within the Department of Commerce but outside of NTIA.” Making FirstNet independent of a federal agency would have “advantages and disadvantages” for the entity, GAO said. FirstNet stakeholders believe “NTIA has begun to be more involved as it relates to future reinvestments policies and decisions; this involvement can affect FirstNet’s ability to independently plan for reinvesting in the network.” Disadvantages to making FirstNet independent include losing the Commerce Department inspector general’s oversight, GAO said.