House Commerce Leaders Release Draft FirstNet Renewal Bill With Stronger NTIA Role

Meanwhile, Senate Communications Chair Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and other lawmakers signaled during the subpanel's hearing that they’re interested in using FirstNet reauthorization legislation as a vehicle for making changes to its governance. Senators also eyed giving carriers other than AT&T access to FirstNet’s infrastructure.

The draft First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act from House Commerce Vice Chairman Neal Dunn, R-Fla., and Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., would renew FirstNet’s mandate through Sept. 30, 2037. It proposes giving NTIA stronger authority over FirstNet, in part requiring that the agency approve “any action” the network takes, apart from to-be-identified exceptions. The legislation would also require the FirstNet board to include at least five members “who have served as public safety professionals.” House Communications Chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., previously indicated he was spearheading the proposal (see 2601200065 and 2601270062).

The bill, which lobbyists on Wednesday still referred to as the “Hudson draft,” would create an associate NTIA administrator who would “manage [FirstNet] staff and operations … in order to ensure that the duties and responsibilities of [the network] are carried out.” The measure would require FirstNet to submit to requesting lawmakers “any contract” between FirstNet and its contractors. It also proposes broadening FirstNet’s scope to consist “of such technologies, spectrum bands, and services as necessary to enable secure, interoperable, resilient, and prioritized broadband communications for public safety entities.”

The Hudson draft would widen FirstNet’s interoperability definition to mean ensuring “communications for public safety entities between networks, providers of commercial mobile service and commercial mobile data service, and jurisdictions through the use of commercial standards for mission-critical services, quality of service, and priority mechanisms.” It would require FirstNet contractors to notify the network of outages within 30 minutes and direct the authority to report those incidents to the FCC.

AT&T, FirstNet's operator, is pleased that Dunn, McClellan and House Communications leaders are “taking this crucial first step toward FirstNet reauthorization,” said Mike Ferguson, its executive vice president for federal legislative relations, in a statement.

Fischer: 'Oversight' Concerns

Fischer was among several Senate Communications members who voiced misgivings about FirstNet’s governing structure during the committee's hearing Wednesday. “Congress needs to get to work now” to reauthorize FirstNet to ensure it doesn’t sunset in February 2027, but a renewal bill should also factor in the August report from the Commerce Department's Office of Inspector General about “weaknesses” in the authority’s oversight (see 2508280059), she said. “The current governing structure has not provided consistent performance oversight.”

Fischer and Senate Communications ranking member Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., questioned AT&T’s role as sole FirstNet operator, given other public safety communications offerings from rivals Verizon and T-Mobile. Both of those carriers have been pushing for lawmakers to open FirstNet’s infrastructure to others (see 2509250060). Fischer asked whether there are “additional areas to introduce competition within the FirstNet system” and whether there would “be network security trade-offs if you have more providers in the system.” Lujan suggested that top carriers also “figure out” interoperability among themselves.

Fischer, Lujan and others cited recent outages that have affected public safety communications, most notably a February 2024 AT&T outage that disrupted FirstNet service (see 2402220058). Fischer also invoked a Verizon outage earlier this month that cut service to tens of thousands of its wireless customers (see 2601140050).

FirstNet acting Vice Chairman Michael Adkinson, who's performing the duties of acting chair, said he doesn’t “want a situation like tyranny of the commons [because] when it becomes everybody's responsibility, it becomes no one's responsibility.” But he also believes “that every option should be reviewed, [and it’s] not my job to pick winners or losers. My job is to make sure … that we get a delivery of service that meets the needs of the people we serve.”

AT&T, Verizon Spar

Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials CEO Mel Maier praised the increased competition between FirstNet and public safety networks from Verizon and T-Mobile, saying it “can lower costs [and] increase the bandwidth in the spectrum that we're using.”

Scott Agnew, AT&T's president of FirstNet and public safety mobility, emphasized the carrier’s plan to soon “launch FirstNet Fusion, which will enhance public safety communications and takes intercarrier interoperability to a new level.” However, he faced criticism from Lujan and Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, after saying that AT&T couldn’t provide Fischer with more information on its selection earlier this month of AST SpaceMobile as what she called “a new satellite partner to plug [FirstNet] gaps.”

Agnew told Fischer that information was a proprietary, “private [request for proposal] with vendors.” A spokesperson said via email that AT&T is “happy to provide Congress information they need as they seek to reauthorize this program, including providing competitively sensitive information in a non-public venue.”

Cory Davis, vice president of Verizon’s alternative Frontline public safety network, said he wasn’t testifying “that Congress should displace AT&T as [FirstNet’s] contract partner or change the terms under which AT&T uses the 700 MHz public safety spectrum for its commercial customers.” But the carrier “believes it is important that local public safety officials have the ability to choose service from us, from AT&T’s FirstNet offerings, or from others who best meet their individual needs.”