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FirstNet board releases agenda for first meeting
Members of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) board will consider resolutions regarding the license for the 700 MHz broadband spectrum, early public-safety LTE deployments and its Public Safety Advisory Committee during the body's initial meeting this morning, according to an agenda released yesterday.
As expected, several items on the agenda are focused on organizational and administrative aspects of FirstNet, including a resolution regarding bylaws for the board. However, the meeting also is scheduled to include votes on resolutions addressing several topics that have been of keen interest within the public-safety community, such as:
- Spectrum — the FCC has indicated that it will transfer the license for 20 MHz of spectrum in the 700 MHz band as soon as FirstNet notifies the FCC that it is ready for the license;
- Public Safety Advisory Committee — There have been proposals that this role be filled by an existing public-safety organization, but the decision will rest with the FirstNet board; and
- BTOP public-safety projects — Several public-safety LTE initiatives funded by Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (BTOP) grants were scheduled to be deployed this year, but these efforts were halted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) so that the FirstNet board could determine whether the projects fit into the long-term plan for a nationwide LTE network.
Other items on the agenda include a "conceptual presentation" regarding network architecture from FirstNet board member Craig Farrill and a similar presentation regarding applications architecture from FirstNet Chairman Sam Ginn.
