NTIA seeks applicants for FirstNet Authority CEO, board position

On the eve of the quarterly FirstNet Authority board meeting, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced efforts to seek individuals to fill a spot on the FirstNet Authority board and to serve as lead staff member for the FirstNet organization.

Ed Parkinson has been serving as the FirstNet Authority’s acting CEO since Oct. 1, when he was appointed to fill the void left by former CEO Michael Poth’s resignation last fall. Today, the NTIA posted the job description for a full-time FirstNet Authority CEO—also known as an executive director.

“The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is looking for an innovative executive to lead the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority),” according to the summary in the job posting. “The ideal candidate will provide executive leadership and shaping of the technology and the reinvestment strategy for the nationwide public=safety broadband network (NPSBN). The Executive Director serves as the principal NTIA senior executive responsible for all operations of the FirstNet Authority.”

Individuals interested in leading the FirstNet staff must submit their applications by April 18, according to the job posting.

NTIA also announced that it is seeking a new member for the FirstNet Authority board. The new member would replace Teri Takai on the FirstNet Authority board. Takai has served as a board member for seven years and is the last of the original group of people appointed to the original FirstNet Authority board after Congress established the organization in 2012.

The current FirstNet Authority board will conduct its first quarterly meeting of the year tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Central time in Jackson, Miss. Establishing principles that the FirstNet Authority board will use to determine how to invest billions of dollars to support the FirstNet public-safety broadband system is among the items that board members are slated to discuss during the meeting, according to the meeting agenda.

Under the FirstNet Authority’s contract with AT&T, AT&T is required to make annual payments to the FirstNet Authority that will total about $18 billion over the 25-year deal. Of this total, $2 billion to $3 billion is expected to be used to support the FirstNet Authority’s organizational operations. The rest of this money—more than $15 billion—is slated to be reinvested into the FirstNet system.

Prior to the board meeting, the FirstNet Authority will conduct a signing ceremony in recognition of its agreement with the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) to collaborate on rural broadband. The agreement is designed to “drive innovation for emergency medicine and response and mobile broadband for rural first responders,” according to a media advisory from the FirstNet Authority.