FirstNet Board Makes History

The Board tasked with the Public Safety project of the century met for the first time Tuesday in Washington, D.C.  and hit the ground running, passing resolutions dealing with licensing, the Public Safety advisory board, conceptual framework, applications, and how to work with state and local governments including those "early-movers" who are already working on their LTE projects.

The FCC released an order earlier this month stating its readiness to issue a license transfer from the Public Safety Spectrum Trust (PSST) for its block of 700 MHz to FirstNet.  The Board voted to complete this administrative requirement, as well as add the 700 MHz D-block to assemble the20 MHz of spectrum allocated for the first ever nationwide Public Safety Broadband network.

The Public Safety advisory board for FirstNet will be comprised of SAFECOM executive board members, with the chair and vice chair chosen by Board Chairman Sam Ginn in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  The advisory board will provide sound input from the Public Safety community.

Chairman Ginn offered a broad presentation of potential information-sharing models among state, local, and federal entities on the network, and Board member Craig Farrill gave a presentation on the potential framework for the network, which featured terrestrial, satellite, and deployable networks in diverse connectivity paths to increase reliability and redundancy.

Some features the Board is striving for include:

• Interagency collaboration
• Interoperability with existing systems
• Nationwide group communications
• Critical-level reliability through multiline access
• Extension of coverage into underserved rural areas
• Cost-efficient subscriber equipment adherent to LTE and other international standards
• Deployable large-scale disaster infrastructure
• Satellite network integration

Ginn stressed the importance of working with first responders on the specs and buildout of this network, but cautioned that the project is moving forward at full pace, and although feedback and ideas are warmly welcomed, Public Safety must speak up soon in order to be heard. 

"We understand the community wants to come back to us and offer points of view.  We're ready to modify our concepts if you have better ideas than we do," said Ginn regarding the concepts presented in the Board's first meeting.

The overall message of the meeting was urgency, to the delight of most Public Safety authorities.  Many expected the Board's first meeting to consist of administrative and "housekeeping" items, but the resolutions passed are tangible and proactive.  Timeliness is an issue with any project, but more so with a task of this magnitude and budget.


Read more:
FirstNet Board Seeks 700 MHz Spectrum, Chooses Advisory Committee
FirstNet Shows Progress in Initial Meeting, Despite Hiccups
FirstNet Board Outlines Public-Safety Broadband Network Architecture
Dept of Commerce FirstNet Fact Sheet

October 3, 2012 Update:  The NTIA issued a Notice of Inquiry regarding the architectural framework concepts of the system.  Comments are due November 1, 2012 at 5:00 pm and can be sent to firstnetnoi@ntia.doc.gov.