Thursday, April 18, 2013

Funding, Public/Private Partnerships Discussed at CCA FirstNet Summit

Board member Sue Swenson delivered an overview of progress and intentions of FirstNet in her opening remarks at the FirstNet Summit for the Competitive Carriers Association yesterday in New Orleans, LA.

Her address to the group began with a plea that "it's time to put on the same color jersey," in response to widespread criticism of the lack of transparency and methods of the Board.  She acknowledged the benefits of healthy debate, but stated, "the time for debate is over, let's figure out how to get this done." She went on to address "perceptions vs. reality," as well as the progress of various elements of the project and a status report on negotiations with the "early builder" BTOP grant recipients.

Among the many concerns of the Public Safety community is the desperate void between the $7B appropriated for the network and the $12-15B figure that has been estimated for the total cost of the network.  Currently FirstNet has access to some funding, $2B of which has currently been authorize under "borrowing authority" from the treasury, and $5B of which is hesitantly expected to be raised from spectrum auctions.

Swenson, which most other panelist agreed with, stated that operating partners would be the key to making this network financially feasible and sustainable.  Cyren Call founder Morgan O'Brien stated that the competitive carriers who are not consumed by AT&T and Verizon would be the lynchpin in a sustainable, multi-dimensional business model.  Panelists also agreed that in order to diversify and sustain partnerships, the roots of the effort must come from state Governors, rather than an overarching nationwide public/private partnership. 

Her portrayal of the current operating costs for Public Safety users shows that FirstNet will save Public Safety money.  Swenson estimated the total cost per user (there are 300 million which she spread among the Big Four commercial carriers) at roughly $25.00 each.  Public Safety users, however, with current LMR systems (an estimated 2 million users on 10,000 uniquely managed networks), have a whopping $10,000 per user cost. She did not address, however, the fact that these expensive LMR systems will still need to be maintained for years to come, alongside the FirstNet NPSBN, as mission critical voice is still an unmet goal with LTE technology. 

Read more at Fierce Broadband Wireless, or view the opening remarks and following sessions on YouTube.

A related issue, in response to the debunked rumors of cellular network shut downs in response to terrorist threats in Boston, raises the question of how the FirstNet NPSBN will affect the ability to exercise such a method.  Read more at Fierce Mobile Government.

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