After exploring ‘opt-out’ decision in 2017, New Hampshire’s Stevens wins FirstNet Authority award

Last month, the FirstNet Authority named John Stevens as this year’s recipient of the Harlin R. McEwen Public Safety Broadband Communications Award recognizing an individual “who has displayed remarkable leadership or made significant contributions in the field of public-safety broadband communications.”

As New Hampshire’s longtime statewide interoperability coordinator, Stevens (pictured above, right, with FirstNet Authority Vice Chair Richard Carrizzo) certainly fits the description, having played a key role in overseeing the development of the LTE-based FirstNet system being built by AT&T in the state. Still, Stevens might be the most surprising of the award’s six recipients—something Stevens vaguely referenced when speaking to the FirstNet Authority board after receiving the award.

“This is certainly a circuitous path that I’ve followed to get to this point in my career,” Stevens said during last month’s board meeting.

Indeed, it was Stevens who led the exploratory effort that resulted in then-Governor Chris Sununu announcing in 2017 that New Hampshire would pursue the “opt-out” alternative to FirstNet, which would have meant the FirstNet system within its state would be built by Rivada Networks rather than AT&T.

Sununu ultimately reversed his position, noting the potential risks facing an opt-out state, resulting in the governors of all 50 states and 6 U.S. territories agreeing to have AT&T build the nationwide public-safety broadband network (NPSBN) by the decision deadline in late December 2017.

Almost five years later, Stevens said that regular dialogue between representatives from the state of New Hampshire and officials from AT&T and the FirstNet Authority have

“We have developed a partnership with the FirstNet Authority and AT&T that is unsurpassed anywhere else in the country,” Stevens said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications.

And the impact of the FirstNet network in New Hampshire has had a significant impact on public-safety communications in the state, according to Stevens.

“It’s not 100% complete … [but] where we are today compared to where we were prior to the opt-in decision is the difference between night and day,” he said.

One key to this success was the tenor maintained by representatives of all parties during New Hampshire’s opt-out deliberations, Stevens said. While outsiders might have assumed that talks would become contentious between the one announced opt-out state and officials from AT&T and the FirstNet Authority, that was not the case, he said.

“There were always respectful conversations all the way through,” Stevens said. “I never had the opinion at any point in time—no matter what we were doing here in New Hampshire—that I did not have the support of FirstNet.”

And these discussions have proven to be very beneficial to New Hampshire and the state’s first responders, Stevens said.

“Through that whole period of opt-in/opt-out, we were able to have meaningful discussions with [the FirstNet Authority] and AT&T and negotiated—on behalf of the state—as to how FirstNet should be implemented in New Hampshire,” Stevens said. “When we did, in fact, opt in, we had a pathway forward to really provide public safety in New Hampshire with something incredible.”

Stevens repeatedly cited the work of others in the “we” reference: notably, officials with the state of New Hampshire, New Hampshire’s Department of Safety, and members of the Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee (SIEC) that negotiated with AT&T and the FirstNet Authority and continue to oversee the FirstNet deployment in the state.

Stevens also pronounced his respect for McEwen, the namesake of the FirstNet Authority award who served as the first chair of the organization’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) to conclude a career of advocacy for public-safety communications initiatives.

“I know Harlin [McEwen], and we’ve had conversations in the past,” Stevens said. “To receive an award in his name is truly an honor for me.”

When asked why New Hampshire decided to pursue the “opt-out” alternative, Stevens said he believes there has be a “misconception” that he opposed the notion of a nationwide FirstNet buildout.

Stevens said he was always a supporter of the FirstNet idea—providing prioritized broadband connectivity to public safety—but wanted to make sure that it was available to first responders throughout as much of New Hampshire as possible. The “opt-out” alternative was first considered after conversations with FirstNet Authority representatives—when the organization was “in its infancy”—indicated that FirstNet coverage in the state likely would be limited to the two most-populated cities, Manchester and Nashua, he said.

“If that [limited coverage] was the message, how were we—me, in particular [as a statewide interoperability coordinator]—supposed to represent public safety in New Hampshire? That’s really why we went down the road we went,” Stevens said. “If the law was providing an opportunity for states to opt out, then let’s pursue that and see what we could attract.

”I guess I could have been perceived as a critic, but what I was really doing was looking out for New Hampshire public safety.”

When Sununu announced that New Hampshire planned to pursue the “opt-out” option with Rivada Networks, many noted that the economics for an opt-out builder would be difficult, if it were deploying only one state—particularly if the state was not a large one like California, Texas or Florida.

“I think there was an expectation that some other states may follow our lead [in choosing the ‘opt-out’ alternative],” Stevens said. “When no other state did, I completely understand and support the reasons why the governor opted in. At that point in time, we had a mission to do whatever we could to create the largest network here in New Hampshire for public safety. We were able to accomplish that.”

If Sununu had made a formal “opt-out” decision, Stevens said he believes New Hampshire public safety still would have been served well, although that state likely would have needed a larger staff to oversee the implementation.

“Based on all of the research we did, all of the work that was done, and what had transpired during that opt-out period, I have every confidence today that we would have built a world-class network here, but I certainly understand the reasons for opting in,” Stevens said.

“We made it work—and we would have made that [opt-out network] work, too, given the opportunity.”