FirstNet Picked New CEO; Network Growth Continues
The FirstNet Authority Board picked a new CEO to replace Ed Parkinson, who left last year, members said at the board’s quarterly meeting Wednesday (see 2205040047). FirstNet didn't identify the successor to Parkinson, who took the helm in March 2020 and had the role on an acting basis starting in 2018. The new CEO “has been identified and selected, an offer has been accepted,” said FirstNet Chairman Stephen Benjamin and the announcement will come after security and administrative clearances, he said. The quarterly meeting was streamed from Austin.
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Benjamin hailed FirstNet’s continuing growth, citing numbers released by AT&T last month (see 2301250059) that connections hit 4.4 million in more than 24,000 agencies. “We’re pleased to see network adoption continue to advance,” Benjamin said. All indicators are public safety has come to trust the network, he said.
Next month marks six years since FirstNet awarded a 25-year contract to AT&T to build the network (see 1703300050), said Jocelyn Moore, chair of the board’s Programs and Future Planning Committee. Adoption and use of the network “continues to grow at a tremendous pace,” she said. Public safety now has access to more than 560 FirstNet-ready devices, she said, noting that FirstNet connections increased by more than 400,000 since November: “This board should be very happy with the success to date of the FirstNet network.”
“We’re preparing the transition” to a new CEO, said acting CEO Lisa Casias. The initial five-year buildout of FirstNet’s Band 14 spectrum by AT&T is expected to be completed in coming months, which is “really an amazing accomplishment,” she said. Public safety “will continue to be at the center of everything we do,” she said.
The FCC hasn't renewed FirstNet’s band 14 license, though use of the band can continue pending further action (see 2211160071). Board members didn’t address the issue directly during Wednesday’s meeting. Several former public safety officials, meanwhile, raised questions based on a report last year by the Commerce Department’s inspector general on FirstNet. FirstNet and AT&T didn’t comment. NTIA and FirstNet said in an agency response attached to the end of the report they would implement changes sought by the IG.
“The IG report raises serious doubts about whether FirstNet is fully meeting its legal obligation and congressional mandate to serve First Responders,” said the open letter: “The IG found that FirstNet could not demonstrate that it was making the most appropriate or efficient use of billions of dollars to reduce gaps in network performance or adequately meet First Responders’ priorities.”
The report’s finding “that these decisions appear to be influenced by FirstNet’s contractor, AT&T, is alarming -- and underscores why we expressed our concern to the FCC back in October about the degree of control that FirstNet has abdicated and transferred to AT&T,” the letter said. It was signed by William Bratton, former police commissioner in New York City and Boston; Karen Tandy, former administrator of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and Salvatore Cassano, former New York City fire commissioner, among others.
All officers at the Texas Department of Public Safety are being issued FirstNet devices, said Eric Baker, systems analyst, who provided a Texas briefing. “We’re finally in the game and issuing mobile devices to all of our troopers on the road,” he said. The department meets with the authority every other week on “ongoing projects and things that we would like to see improvements on,” he said.
“West Texas has always been a challenge because it is a remote area,” Baker said. The department had staff drive around the region and found that connection to FirstNet “kind of effectively doubled our coverage area for our troopers,” he said. Connections also improved along the border with Mexico, he said.
The department is working with FirstNet on a “forward deployable” cell, Baker said: “As technology has progressed we’re pushing a lot more data,” especially with drones. “At a typical incident, it’s not uncommon for us to have multiple drones in the air.” No one “anticipated how prolific the use of drones would be,” he said.
Baker predicted the department will make more use of push-to-talk devices over more traditional land-mobile radio (LMR). “We’ve really kind of seen over the past couple of years, with some critical incidents, that sometimes LMR just doesn’t have the penetration to buildings that we expect it to have” relative to LTE and Wi-Fi, he said. Baker also sees a growing demand for wearable devices.
Board Vice Chair Richard Carrizzo reported FirstNet held 306 meetings with public safety officials in Q1, reaching 8,000 “stakeholders.” Meetings were held across 51 states and territories, he said. Carrizzo said FirstNet provided connections at Sunday’s Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.