Spectrum is scarce for U.S. utilities, and the FirstNet board is still in its beginning phases of assembly and planning. Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) telecommunications supervisor Matt Schnell says utility companies will have to step up and create their own opportunities in this endeavour, because they will not present themselves.
Public Safety has been given the immense opportunity and task of creating a state of the art Broadband network, but funding, system planning, procurement, and governance will surely present the same challenges that the industry has always been faced with.
NPPD partnered with the Nebraska State Police to build a statewide interoperable VHF system that has more robustness and reliability than either agency would have been able to achieve on its own. Schnell is confident that similar partnerships can be created in Broadband.
Public Safety and utilities are intertwined because both groups require high reliability and emergency response standards. Additionally, both groups have funding issues, and many officials say the $7 billion Congress allotted to Public Safety will not be enough to build and implement the ambitious project. Utilities can provide the steady revenue stream necessary to pay for and maintain the network, as well as the base-stations and backhaul assets that will be needed.
Right now is the perfect time for utilities to seize the opportunity at hand: Public Safety is lacking funding, in need of infrastructure, and preparing to design the system. Also, the likelihood that spectrum will be available in the near future for a Broadband network for utilities is slim to none.
Alcatel-Lucent's Mark Madden called on individual utilities to step up and advocate for the partnership, because vendors and UTC will not be a big enough voice without them. He also reminded them that two years from now will be too late, because the rules and RFPs will already be in place.
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