FirstNet reviewing state-plan comments, remains on schedule for ‘opt-in/opt-out’ decisions

Reed acknowledged that the timelines could be different in the three U.S. territories located in the South Pacific: Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Although FirstNet teams have conducted consultations with these three territories, they have not received initial state plans.

FirstNet officials have tried to be sensitive to the unique situations in these three South Pacific territories, which are complicated by the fact that AT&T does not already provide these locations with the kind of extensive coverage that it does in the continental U.S., Reed said.

“We think we have a path forward to get them to a state plan that meets their operational, cultural and pragmatic needs, in terms of mobile data,” Reed said. “We’re going to get that state plan out for them to review as quickly as possible. At that point, we will adjudicate comments on the plans and get those in the hands of governors as quickly as possible.

“We would most likely still allow them a review period. It may be truncated [in comparison with the current review period for other states and territories]—based on the amount of consultation that we’ve done, they may not need as much review time. But we’ll be respectful of their process; we’re not going to rush them through. We’re going to give them time to do what they need to do to get comfortable.

“We’re going to provide them with a state plan. We’re going to have them review it and tell us that their comfortable, and then we’ll make it available to the governor. If that takes a week, so be it. If that takes a month, so be it. We’ll dialogue with them until they’re comfortable.”