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Rockefeller aide says letter rebuking Motorola Solutions ‘stands on its own’
Sen. John D. “Jay” Rockefeller, D-W.V.—long a champion of the nationwide public-safety broadband communications network being built by the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet)—rebuked Motorola Solutions for its alleged effort to undermine FirstNet in a letter sent to Greg Brown, the company’s president and CEO.
In the letter sent last week, Rockefeller referenced media reports that indicated Motorola Solutions has financed a public-relations and lobbying campaign designed to “erode support for FirstNet’s work and mission.”
“The construction of a nationwide interoperable public safety network threatens the current dominance your company enjoys in the public safety radio device and equipment market,” Rockefeller wrote. “But it also represents a long-overdue step forward for public-safety communications. Everybody must now work together to maximize the limited resources we have to build this network.”
Rockefeller concluded by telling Brown to cease the campaign and to “work constructively" with the FirstNet board of directors.
When the story first broke, Politico—a website focused on national politics—alleged that Motorola Soutions supplied public-safety officials with a sample letter they could use to express dissatisfaction with the activities of FirstNet’s board of directors. Subsequent stories alleged that Motorola lobbied state and public-safety officials to take similar action.
Rockefeller’s letter to Brown cites no specific examples of wrongdoing, only the media reports. When asked today whether Rockefeller’s investigators had uncovered any evidence of the alleged wrongdoing, a spokesman for the Senate Commerce Committee—Rockefeller chairs the committee—only would say that “the letter stands on its own.”
When asked why Rockefeller would wait until now to reach out to Brown—the story broke in June—the spokesman declined to comment.
A Motorola spokesman today also declined to comment on Rockefeller’s letter, but he provided the following statement:
“The need for a nationwide public-safety network has been communicated to Motorola by its customers for many years on behalf of the millions of citizens they are entrusted to protect and serve. We have not only listened, but appreciate and share their views. Moreover, we were pleased to join them and dozens of public-safety organizations to support FirstNet.
“It should be noted that Motorola was a strong supporter of the legislation that created FirstNet, and the company believes the law that established FirstNet should be implemented to give all public-safety end-users fair and reasonable access to this critical resource. Again, our objective is to help make FirstNet a success and enable local first responders to do their jobs more safely and effectively.”
In a press briefing held during last month’s Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) conference, Bob Schassler, Motorola Solutions’ senior vice president of government solutions, said that the company is working closely with FirstNet, and that reports indicating a “controversial situation” between the two entities “have been exaggerated” to some extent.
“We’re trying to understand their perspectives. We’re trying to share our perspectives. And we’re clearly trying to figure out how we can be a strong ally to FirstNet,” Schassler said. “Obviously, we’re biased, but we feel like we can be of major assistance in their mission that they have, and hopefully they feel that way. It’s obviously our job to convince them that that’s the case.”
Currently, Motorola Solutions is working with the the Bay Area Regional Interoperable Communications Systems Authority (BayRICS) to build a 700 MHz public-safety LTE network in the San Francisco Bay region—the company not only is the equipment vendor, but also the grant recipient for the project—and is the vendor for public-safety LTE systems being built in the state of Mississippi and Harris County, Texas.
With reporting by Donny Jackson.
Motorola has really taken the
Motorola has really taken the heat over their public opposition to FirstNet. They will always oppose any attempts to make new technologies open standard. They knew exactly what they were doing when their first generation P25 equipment hit the market. Users found roadblocks to true interoperability only when using Motorola radios with other makes. Only when faced with sharp criticism and loss of sales to competitors did some very quick fixes come about.
A year ago last August, I sat in the lobby of my hotel where I was attending an national public safety convention and explained the virtues of FirstNet to a group of Motorola engineers attending the same event. I explained of how I would talk to anyone that would stand still log enough of the great benefits of a nationwide public safety broadband network and how it would change interoperability and the market for new products necessary to make it a reality.
However, I cautioned them and made one thing very clear. That since the time when I started preaching to the masses about FirstNet over three years ago(it was only 10 mhz. known as 700 mhz, block D Public Safety Broadband Network at the time) of how every product that operated on the PSBN would have to be open standard. I went on to explain that if necessary, the Department of Commerce would have to license vendors products that used this band to assure open platform standards were met.
That statement was greeted with some cold looks from the group. I went on to elaborate. ” I’m an old analog RF guy, but I can see ROIP off in the horizon. My new Tonka transceiver needs to be able to talk to the next guys Hasbro phone and vice a versa. And it needs to talk to her Mattell computer every time and without fail.” No one company can try to domineer the marketplace especially when a failure to effectively communicate with one another could cost a life. We’re not dealing with brokering stocks, bonds or selling dish soap. We’re out there fighting to save lives and property and we don’t anyone or anything to get in the way of that-period. When you realize that we all don’t drive Fords or Chevys, the same holds true for communications equipment. It’s your job to make me want your equipment just simply cause it’s better, not to force me with a proprietary scheme.
I hope that Motorola’s latest comments mean that they have finally seen the light.
Right on Randy. Moto is all
Right on Randy. Moto is all about their market share not about what is best for the customers. Rockefeller did a good thing by calling them out.