Alabama receives three bids for potential public-safety LTE radio access network

ALEA cited uncertainty surrounding FirstNet’s legal delays as a reason to establish the Jan. 31 bid deadline.

“FirstNet has delayed the announcement of their nationwide partner indefinitely, based on a legal challenge to the partner-selection process,” according to an ALEA news release at the time. “The indefinite delay is likely to push FirstNet’s partner announcement well into the spring of 2017.

“FirstNet has, however, consistently indicated that they are not slowing their efforts to prepare for the eventual announcement and preparation of state plans. In fact, they have indicated that they plan to have the state-plan portal operational within 90 days of the announcement, and multiple key officials have made public statements that they are moving forward with their preparations for deployment of the FirstNet network as soon as the legal challenge is resolved.”

This possibility that FirstNet could compress the timeframe between the nationwide contractor announcement and the release of final state plans—a period that could last a maximum of six months, by law—was a major consideration in ALEA’s decision to establish a Jan. 31 proposal deadline, according to the news release.

“Based on FirstNet’s continued diligence towards providing the 56 states and territories with a viable state plan as soon as 90 days after the announcement of its nationwide partner, ALEA has determined that it is in the state’s best interest to establish a final deadline for Alabama’s PSB-RAN [public-safety broadband RAN],” the new release states. “This will allow the state to properly review RFP proposals prior to delivery of the state’s FirstNet draft state plan.”