Earliest state plans for FirstNet could be ready in latter half of 2015, FirstNet official says
Hilliard reiterated FirstNet’s intention to initiate a proceeding “in the next couple of months” to solicit input regarding potential users of the nationwide broadband system for first responders. FirstNet’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) has recommended that 911 be among the public-safety users that would receive priority access to the FirstNet system, she said.
Panelist Jackie Mines, division director for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, said the most-asked questions in her state by representatives of public-safety agencies that are potential subscribers to the FirstNet system surround the funding model.
“I think that’s the biggest question that everyone has,” Mines said during the session. “Even with our stakeholders, there’s enthusiasm, but it’s a measured enthusiasm that’s kind of wondering whether we can trust this idea. We know that there are user/device-per-month charges that they get from their commercial carriers, so we know that this idea has to be extremely compelling.
“If it’s a priority network for public safety, that’s compelling. If it has user applications and devices that are outside of what can be offered in the commercial realm, that’s compelling … Our biggest concerns is whether we can make it compelling enough, so people will move off of the commercial network and will it be at a price point that we can all bear. That’s our biggest concern, and we know that dollars are limited.”
A big part of the financial structure rests with FirstNet’s ability to monetize excess capacity on the network, Hilliard said.
“The big unknown piece is that we have 20 MHz of spectrum, and we know that—on an average day—all of that spectrum is not going to be used by the public-safety community on the network,” Hilliard said. “Through the legislation, FirstNet is able to lease our excess capacity, but what a commercial partner is willing to pay for that is one of the big unknowns.
“We are working on a draft RFP [request for proposal] that will go out sometime next year to look for a partner to build out the network with us. One of the questions that hopefully will be answered during that process is what is the value of our excess [capacity on the FirstNet system]. It’s one of the ways that we will help lower the cost to the users and really make this a sustainable network.”