NTIA seeks comments on FirstNet opt out guidance
Connecting state and local government leaders
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is asking for input on guidelines for states building and funding their own networks.
FirstNet, the nationwide public safety mobile broadband system, allows states to opt out of participating in the system, provided their system is interoperable with the national one. However, up until now, there have been few details on how states could build and fund their own network, complicating their decision whether to join the national network or build its own.
On July 19, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversees FirstNet, offered a glimpse of what states might need to do in order to opt out. In a Federal Register notice, NTIA asks states and others for input on the proposed guidelines it is developing under its State Alternative Plan Program (SAPP).
The guidance includes the criteria states may use to negotiate a spectrum capacity lease with FirstNet and apply for NTIA grants to fund the construction of their own networks, according to FirstNet.
Comments on the draft guidance are due by Aug. 18.
Under a complex plan, FirstNet must offer to build radio access networks (RANs) in states. Alternatively, states may choose to build their own networks to connect to FirstNet, shouldering the costs and responsibilities. They must apply to do so under the SAPP.
According to FirstNet, RANs are the basic networks states will need to seamlessly connect their first responders to the FirstNet network.
"The first guidance we are releasing today respects each state's right to choose to build its own radio access network, while still ensuring that first responders have access to a nationwide broadband network that will improve their ability to respond to emergencies and save lives," NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling said in a July 19 statement.
"States are reviewing the guidance," Elena Waskey, press secretary at the National Governors Association, told FCW, GCN’s sister site.
In testimony during a June 21 hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Jeffrey McLeod, director of the NGA Center for Best Practices' Homeland Security and Public Safety Division, said states were concerned about FirstNet's ability to provide reliable coverage in rural areas. He also said state officials want more input into FirstNet's planning.
The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials-International declined to comment on the opt-out guidance and pointed to an April 2015 filing that questioned why states would consider opting out.
"There is simply no reason for any state to opt out, which entails an arduous process and shifts the important responsibility to implement a radio access network from FirstNet to the state," the filing states. "Compared to any state, FirstNet has significant advantages provided by Congress to achieve the best overall solution for the country. Yet a state that seeks to construct its own RAN introduces many serious risks to the communications capabilities of first responders within its own borders as well as those across the nation."
FirstNet expects to select a lead vendor for the project by November and have final deployment plans in place next year.